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The  Institute  has  attempted  to  obtain  the  best 
original  copy  available  for  filming.  Features  of  this 
copy  which  may  be  bibliographically  unique, 
which  may  alter  any  of  the  images  in  the 
reproduction,  or  which  may  significantly  change 
the  usual  method  of  filming,  are  checked  below. 


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Coloured  covers/ 
Couverture  de  couleur 

Covers  damaged/ 
Couverture  endommag^e 

Covers  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Couverture  restaurde  et/ou  pelliculde 

Cover  title  missing/ 

Le  titre  de  couverture  manque 

Coloured  maps/ 

Cartes  gdographiques  en  couleur 

Coloured  ink  (i.e.  other  than  blue  or  black)/ 
Encre  de  couleur  (i.e.  autre  que  bleue  ou  noire) 

Coloured  plates  and/or  illustrations/ 
Planches  et/ou  illustrations  en  couledr 

Bound  with  other  material/ 
Relid  avec  d'autres  Documents 

Tight  binding  may  cause  shadows  or  distortion 
along  interior  margin/ 

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lors  dune  restauration  apparaissent  dans  le  texte, 
mais,  lorsque  cela  6tait  possible,  ces  pages  n'ont 
pas  M  filmdes. 


L'Institut  a  microfilm^  le  meilleur  exemplaire 
qu'il  lui  a  6x6  possible  de  se  procure, .  Les  details 
de  cet  exemplaire  qui  sont  peutdtre  uniques  du 
point  de  vue  bibliographique,  qui  peuvent  modifier 
une  image  reproduite,  ou  qui  peuvent  exiger  une 
modification  dans  la  mdthode  normale  de  filmage 
sont  indiqu^s  ci-dessous. 


D 
D 

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Coloured  pages/ 
Pages  de  couleur 

Pages  damaged/ 
Pages  endommagies 

Pages  restored  and/or  laminated/ 
Pages  restaur^es  et/ou  pelliculdes 

Pages  discoloured,  stained  or  foxed/ 
Pages  d6color6es,  tacheties  ou  piqudes 

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SSowthrough/ 
Transparence 

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obscurcies  par  un  feuillet  d'errata,  une  pelure, 
etc.,  ont  6x6  film^es  6  nouveau  de  facon  A 
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Additional  comments:/ 
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Pagination  as  follows  :    [v]  -  273  p. 


This  item  is  filmed  at  the  reduction  ratio  checkec;  below/ 
Ce  document  est  film*  au  taux  de  reduction  indiqud  ci-dessous. 
IPX  14X 18X  22y 


26X 


30X 


12X 


16X 


20X 


24X 


28X 


32X 


The  copy  filmed  here  hes  been  reproduced  thanks 
to  the  generosity  of: 

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Original  copies  in  printed  paper  covers  are  filmed 
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other  original  copies  are  filmed  beginning  on  the 
first  page  with  a  printed  or  illustrated  impres- 
sion, and  ending  on  the  last  page  with  a  printed 
or  illustrated  impression. 


The  last  recorded  frame  on  each  microfiche 
shall  contain  the  symbol  -^  (meaning  "CON- 
TINUED "),  or  the  symbol  V  (meaning  "END"), 
whichever  applies. 

Maps,  plates,  charts,  etc.,  may  be  filmed  at 
different  reduction  ratios.  Those  too  large  to  be 
entirely  included  in  one  exposure  are  filmed 
beginning  in  the  upper  left  hand  corner,  left  to 
right  and  top  to  bottom,  as  many  frames  as 
required.  The  following  diagrams  illustrate  the 
method: 


L'exemplairn  film*  fut  reproduit  grAce  h  la 
gAnirositA  de: 

Douglas  Library 
Queen's  University 

Les  images  suivantes  ont  6t6  reproduites  avec  le 
P'ms  grand  soin,  compte  tenu  de  la  condition  et 
de  'J  netteti  ds  I'exemplaire  film*,  et  en 
conformity  avec  les  conditions  du  contrat  de 
filmago. 

Les  exemplaires  originaux  dont  la  couverture  en 
papier  est  imprimAe  sont  film6s  en  commenpant 
par  le  premier  plat  et  en  terminant  soit  par  la 
dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration,  soit  par  le  second 
pSat,  selon  le  cas.  Tous  les  autres  sxemplaires 
originaux  sont  film^s  en  commen9ant  par  la 
premidre  page  qui  comporte  une  empreinte 
d'impression  ou  d'illustration  et  en  terminant  par 
la  dernidre  page  qui  comporte  une  telle 
empreinte. 

Un  des  symboles  suivants  apparaftra  sur  la 
dernidre  image  de  cheque  microfiche,  selon  le 
cas:  le  symbole  — ►•  signifie  "A  SUIVRE  ",  le 
symbols  V  signifie  "FIN". 

Les  cartes,  planches,  tableaux,  etc.,  peuvent  dtre 
film6s  A  des  taux  de  reduction  diffdrents. 
Lorsque  le  document  est  trop  grand  pour  dtre 
reproduit  en  un  seul  cliche,  il  est  filmd  d  partir 
de  i'engle  sup6rieur  gauche,  de  gauche  d  droite, 
et  de  haut  en  bas,  en  prenant  le  nombre 
d'images  n6ceseaire.  Les  diagrammes  suivants 
illustrent  la  m^thode. 


1 

2 

3 

1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

ri 


A  SECOND  VISIT 


TO 


THE    UNITED    STATES 


OF 


NORTH  AMERICA. 


BY  SIR  CHARLES  LYELL,  F.R.S., 

rBKSIDENT  OP  THE  OEOLOOICAI.  SOCIETy  OP  LONDON,  AUTHOB  OP  "THE  PRINCIPUCa 
3P  OEOLOOT,"  AND  "TBAVEL8  IN  NOBTH  AMEBICA." 


IW    TWO    VOLUMES. 
VOL.     I. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 

rRANKLIN    SQUARE. 

1868. 


I 


CONTENTS 


or 


THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 


CHAPTER  I. 


Voyage  from  Liverpool  to  HaUfax.-Gale.-Iceberg.-Drift  Ice  and  Gulf 
Stream-  Coast  of  Newfoundland—Engine  room  of  Steamer.-Con. 
versations  on  Coolies  in  the  West  Indies.-Halifax.-New8  of  Jud-^e 
Stoiy'fl  Death—Boston—Success  of  the  Mail  Steam  Packets—Cus- 
torn  House  Officers     . 


rxoB 


CHAPTER  n. 

Boston—Horticultural  Show  in  Faneuil  Hall— Review  of  Militia- 
Peace  Association— Excursion  to  the  White  Mountains— Railway 
Tmvelmg-Portsmouth.  New  Hampshire-Geology,  Fossils  in  Drift. 
-Submarme  forest-Wild  Plants:  Asters,  Solidagos,  Poison  Ivy— 
SwaUows-Glacial  Grooves-Rocks  transported  by  Antarctic  Ice- 
Body  of  a  Whale  discovered  by  an  American  Trader  in  an  Iceberg 


27 


CHAPTER  III. 

Portland  in  Maine-Kennebec  River-Timber  Trade-FossU  Shells  at 
Gardmen-Augusta  the  Capital  of  Maine-Legal  Profession:  Advo- 
^tes  and  Attorneys-Equality  of  Sects-Religious  Tolemtion-Cal- 
vuustic  Theology— Day  of  Doom 


I 


159588 


vm 


CONTENTS. 


) 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Journey  from  Portlanil  to  tho  White  Mountains. — Plants— Ciiurches, 
School-houses.— Temperance  Hotel.— Intelligence  of  New-Englanders. 
— Climate,  Consumption. — Conway. — Division  of  Property. — Every 
Man  his  own  Tenant. — Autumnal  Tints. — Bears  hybernating.— Willey 
Slide. — Theory  of  Scratches  and  Grooves  on  Rocks. — Scenery. — 
Waterfalls  and  Ravines.— The  Notch.— Forest  Trees  and  Mountain 
Plants. — Fabyan's  Hotel. — Echo 


FAOB 


53 


CHAPTLR  V. 

Ascent  of  Mount  Washington.— Mr.  Oakes.- Zones  of  distinct  Vegeta- 
tion.—Belt  of  Dwarf  Firs.— Bald  Region  and  Arctic  Flora  on  Sum- 
mit.— ^View  from  Summit. — Migration  of  Plants  from  Arctic  Re- 
gions.- Change  of  Climate  since  Glacial  Period.— Granitic  Rocks  o» 
White  Mountains.- Franconia  Notch.— Revival  at  Bethlehem.— Miller- 
ite  Movement. — The  Tabernacle  at  Boston. — Mormons.— Remarks  on 
New  England  Fanaticism    .        .        . ^^ 


CHAPTER  VI. 

Social  Equahty.— Position  of  Servants.— War  with  England.— Coalition 
of  Northern  Democrats,  and  Southern  Slave-owners. — Ostracism  of 
Wealth. — Legislators  paid. — Envy  in  a  Democracy. — Politics  of  the 
Country  and  the  City.— Pledges  at  Elections.— Universal  Suffrage.— 
Adventure  in  a  Stage  Coach. — Rettira  from  the  White  Mountains. — 
Plymouth  in  New  Hampshire.— Congregational  and  Methodist 
Churches.— Theological  Discussions  of  Fellow  Travelers.- Temper- 
ance Movemenl. — Post-OflSce  Abuses. — Lowell  Factories    . 


ao 


CHAPTER  VIL 

J'lyraouth,  Massachusetts. — Plymouth  Beach. — Marine  Shells. — Quick- 
sand.—Names  of  Pilgrim  Fathers.— Forefathers'  Day.— Pilgrim  Rel 
ics. — Their  Authenticity  considered. — Decoy  Pond. — A  Barn  Travel- 
ing.— Excursion  to  Salem. — Museum. — Warrants  for  Execution  of 
Witches. — Causes  of  the  Persecution. — Oonverfiation  with  Colored 
Abolitionists. — Comparative  Capacity  of  White  and  Negro  Races. — 
Ilalf-Breeds  and  Hybrid  Intellects 93 


CONTENTS. 


IX 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


PAOI 


Pretended  Fossil  Sea  Serpent,  or  Zeuglodon,  from  Alabama—Recent 
•Appearance  of  a  Sea  Serpent  in  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence.-In  Norway  in 
1845.-Near  Cape  Ann,  Massachusetts,  I817.-American  Descrip- 
tions—Conjectures as  to  Nature  of  the  Animal— Sea  Snake  stranded 
in  the  Orkneys  proved  to  be  a  Shark.-Dr.  Barclay's  Memoir -Sir 
Everard  Home's  Opinion.-Sea  Serpent  of  Hebrides,  ISOS.-Reasons 
for  concluding  that  Pontoppidan's  Sea  Snake  was  a  Basking  Shark  - 
Captain  M'Quhae's  Sea  Serpent 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Boston— No  Private  Lodgings— Boarding-houses— Hotels— Effects  of 
the  Climate  on  Health— Large  Fortuncs.-Style  of  Living— Serv- 
ants— Carriages— Education  of  Ladies— Marriages— Professional 
Incomes— Protectionist  Doctrines.-Peculiarities  of  Langua-e - 
Literary  Tastes.— Cost  of  Living— Alarms  of  Fire       .  " 


122 


CHAPTER  X. 


Boston— Blind  Asylum  and  Laura  Bridgeman.-Respect  for  Freedom 
ofConscience— Cemetery  of  Mount  Aubum.-Channing's  Cenotaph  - 
Episcopal  Churches— Unitarian  Congregations— Eminent  Preach- 
er8.-Progres8  of  Unitarians  why  slow— Their  works  reprinted  in 

England— Noth;:igai-ian8.-Episcopalian   Asceticism— Separation  of 
Religion  and  Politics  . 


133 


CHAPTER  XL 

Boston— Whig  Caucus.-Speech  of  Mr.  Webster— PoUtics  in  Masachu- 
setts— Election  of  Governor  and  Representatives.— Thanksgiving  Day 
and  Governor's  Proclamation.— Absence  of  Pauperism.-Irish  R^epeal 
Meeting.— New  England  Sympathizer.— Visit  to  a  Free  School  — 
State  Education— Pay  and  Social  Rank  of  Teachers  -Importance  of 
Ihe  Profession— Rapid  Progress  and  Effects  of  Educational  Move- 
ment.—Popular  Lectures — Lending  Libraries 


141 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Boston,  Popular  Education,  continued. — Putronage  of  Universities  and 
Science. — Channing  on  Milton. — Milton's  Scheme  of  teaching  the 
Natural  Sciences. — New  England  Free  Schools. — Their  Origin. — First 
Puritan  Settlers  not  illiterate. — Sincerity  of  their  Religious  Faith.— 
Schools  founded  in  Seventeenth  Century  in  Massachusetts. — Discour- 
aged in  Virginia. — Sir  W.  Berkeley's  Letter. — Pastor  Robinson's  Views 
of  Progress  in  Religion. — Organization  of  Congregational  Church- 
es.— No  Penalties  for  Dissent. — Provision  made  for  future  Variations 
in  Creeds. — Mode  of  working  exemplified. — Impossibility  of  conceal- 
ing Truths  relating  to  Religion  from  an  educated  Population. — Gain 
to  the  Higher  Classes,  especially  the  Clergy. — New  Theological  Col- 
lege.— The  Lower  Orders  not  rendered  indolent,  discontented,  or  ir- 
religious by  Education.  Peculiar  Stimulus  to  Popular  Instruction  in 
the  United  States        .        .'        .        .        .        .      ' .        .        . 


PAD  I 


155 


CHAPTER  XIIL 

Leaving  Boston  for  the  South. — Railway  Stove. — Full  of  Snow. — New 
Haven,  and  Visit  to  Professor  Silliman. — New  York. — Improvements 
in  the  City. — Croton  Waterworks. — Fountains. — Recent  Conflagra- 
tion.— New  Churches. — Trinity  Church. — News  from  Europe  of  Con- 
verts to  Rome. — Reaction  against  Tractarians. — Electric  Telegraph, 
its  Progres  in  America. — Morse  and  Wheatstone. — 11,000  Schools  in 
New  York  for  Secular  instniction. — ^Absence  of  Smoke. — Irish  Voters. 
— Nativism.         .        .        ,        ^ 178 


''$'■' 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

New  York  to  Philadelphia. — Scenery  in  New  Jersey. — War  about  Ore- 
gon.— Protectionist  Theories. — Income  Tax  and  Repudiation. — Re- 
criminations against  British  Aggrandizement. — Irish  Quarter  and 
fraudulent  Votes. — Washington. — Congress  and  Annexation  of  Texas. 
— General  Cass  for  War. — Winthrop  for  Arbitration. — Inflated  Elo- 
quence.—Supreme  Court. — Slavery  in  District  of  Columbia. — 
Museum,  Collection  of  Corals. — Sculpture  from  Palenque. — Conversa- 
tions with  Mr.  Fox. — A  Residence  at  Washington  not  favorable  to  a 
just  Estimate  of  the  United  States. — False  Position  of  Foreign  Diplo- 
matists       .        .  19J 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  XV. 


i>Mia 


Washington  to  Richmond.— Legislature  of  Virginia  in  Session.— Substi- 
tutiou  of  White  for  Slave  Labor.— Progress  of  Negro  Instruction.— 
Slave^ealers.— Kirunew  to  Negroes,— Coal  of  Oolitic  Period  near 
Richmond.— Visit  to  the  Mines.- Upright  Fossil  Trees.— Deep  Shafts, 
and  Thickness  of  Coal  Soams.- Explosion  of  Gas.— Natural  Coke.— 
Resemblance  of  tho  more  modem  Coal-measures  to  old  CarboniferoOs 
Rocks.— Whites  working  with  free  Negroes  in  the  Mines  .        .        .205 


CHAPTER  XVL 

Journey  through  Nrrth  Carolina.— Wilmington.— Recent  Fire  and  Pass- 
ports  for  Slaves.— Cape  Fear  River  and  Smithfield.— Spanish  Moss, 
and  Uses  of.— Charleston.- Anti-Negro  Feeling.— Passage  from  JHu- 
lattoes  to  Whites.— Law  against  importing  free  Blacks.— Dispute  ^th 
Massachusetts.- Seciety  in  Charleston.— Govemesses.-War-Panic- 
Anti-English  Feeling  causwl  by  Newspaper  Press.- National  Arbitra- 
tion of  the  Americans.— Dr.  Dachmon's  Zoology.— Geographical 
Representation  of  Specie*.  -Rattle-Snakes.— Turkey  Buzzards  . 


218 


CHAPTER  XVn. 

Charleston  to  Savannah.— Beaufort  River,  or  Inland  Navigation  in  South 
Carolina.-Slave  Stealer. -Cockspur  Island  .-Rapid  growth  of  Oysters. 
—Eagle  caught  by  Oyster.- Excursion  from  Savannah  to  Skiddaway 
Island.- Megatherium  and  Mylodon  —Cabbage  Palms,  or  tree  Palmet- 
tos.- Deceptive  Appearance  of  Submarine  Forest.- Alligators  swal- 
lowing Flints.— Their  Tenacity  of  I-ife  when  decapitated.— Grove 
of  Live  Oaks.— Slaves  taken  to  Free  St^tw ^^ 


CHAPTER  XV  III. 

Savannah  to  Darien.— Anti-Slavery  Meetings  discussed.— War  with 
England.— Landing  at  Darien.— Crackers.— fic^enerv  on  Altamaha 
River.— Negro  Boatmen  singing.- Marsh  Blackbird  iv  Rice  Grounds.— 
Hospitality  of  Southern  Planters.— New  Clearing  and  Natural  «oiatiou 
of  Trees— Birds— Shrike  and  Kingfisher.- Excursion  to  St.  Siuaon'* 
Island.— Butler's  Island  and   Negroes.- Stupips   of  Tr«e«    in.  SaU 


Iti 


C0NTKNT8. 


Marahes  proving  Subsidenco  of  Land.— Alligator  •oen.— Tlioir  NesU 
and  Habits.— Their  Fear  of  Porpoises.— Indian  Rljell  Mouud  on  St. 
Simon's  Island.— Date-palm,  Orange,  Lemon,  and  Olive  Trees.- Hur- 
ricanes.- Visit  to  outermost  Barrier  Island.- Sea  Shells  on  3each.— 
Negro  Maid-Servants  •....,,,•,,  940 

•  CHAPTER  XIX. 

Rivers  made  turbid  by  the  Clearing  of  Forests.- Land  rising  in  successive 
Terraces.— Origin  of  these.— Bones  of  extinct  Quadrupeds  in  Lower 

Terrace. — Associated  Marine  Shells. — Digging  of  Brunswick  Canal 

Extinction  of  Megatherium  and  its  Contempories.— Dying  out  of  rare 
Species  -Gordonia  Pubei»cens.— Life  of  Southern  Planters— Negroes 
on  a  Rice  Plantation.— Black  Children.— Separate  Negro  Houses.— 
Work  exacted.— Hospital  for  Negroes.- Food  and  Dress.- Black 
Driver.— Prevention  of  Crimes.— African  Tom.— Progress  of  Negroes 
in  Civilization.- Conversions  to  Christianity.- Episcopalian,  Baptist, 
•nd  Methodist  Missionaries.— Amalgamation  and  Mixture  of  JSaces    .  256 


A  SECOND  VISIT 


TO 


THE    UNITED    STATES. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Voyage  from  Liverpool  to  Halifax.— Gale.— Iceberff.— Drift  Ice  an<l  Pnlf 
Stream-Coast  of  Newfoundland.-Engine-room^of  St  amert^Conve/ 
sations  on  Coohes  ,n  the  West  Indies.- Halifax.-News  of  Judge  Sto^'.' 

Sffice;r  ^^  ^"■"^""''''  '^  '^'  ^^"  ^^«^™  Paoketa-Custom  Se 

S^t  4.   1845.--EMBARKED  with  my  wife  at  Liverpool,  in 
the  Britannia  one  of  the  Cunar-I  line  of  steam-ships,  bound  for 
Hahfax  and  Boston.     On  leaving  the  wharf,  we  had  first  been 
crammed,  with  a  crowd  of  passengers  and  heaps  of  luggage,  into 
a  diminutive  steamer,  which  looked  like  a  toy  by  the  side  of  the 
larger  ship,  of  1200  tons,  in  which  we  were  to  cross  the  ocean 
I  was  reminded,  however,  by  a  friend,  that  this  small  craft  was 
more  than  three  times  as  large  as  one  of  the  open  caravels  of 
Columbus,  m  his  first  voyage,  which  was  only  15  tons  burden 
and  without  a  deck.     It  is,  indeed,  marvelous  to  reflect  on  the 
darmg  of  the  early  adventurers;  for  Frobisher,  in  1576    made 
his  way  from  the  Thames  to  the  shores  of  Labrador  wi'th  two 
small  barks  of  20  and  25  tons  each,  not  much  surpassing  in  size 
the  barge  of  a  man-of-war  ;  and  Sir  Humphry  Gilbert  crossed  to 
Newfoundland,  in  1583,  in  a  bark  of  10  tons  only,  which  was 
lost  in  a  tempest  on  the  return  voyage. 


..*■ 


14 


GALE. 


[Chap.  1. 


The  morning  after  we  set  sail  we  found  ourselves  off  Cork,  in 
the  midst  of  the  experimental  squadron  of  steamers  and  ships  of 
the  line,  commanded  by  Sir  Hyde  Parker.  They  had  been  out 
several  weeks  performing  their  nautical  evolutions,  and  we  had 
the  amusement  of  passing  close  to  the  largest  ships  of  the  fleet— 
the  St.  Vincent  and  the  Superb.  Our  captain  fired  a  salute  as 
we  went  under  the  batteries  of  the  last  of  these — the  Admiral's 
ship. 

After  sailing  at  the  rate  of  more  than  200  miles  a  day  for 
four  days,  our  progress  was  retarded,  Sept.  8,  by  an  equinoctial 
gale,  which  came  in  from  the  south>vest,  and,  blowing  for  twelve 
hours,  raised  such  a  sea,  that  we  only  made  four  miles  an  hour. 

Another  gale  of  still  greater  violence  came  on  six  days  after- 
ward, on  the  night  of  the  14th,  when  the  ship  was  running  at 
the  rate  of  ten  and  a  half  miles  an  hour,  along  the  eastern  edge 
of  the  Great  Bank,  The  wind  had  been  N.E.,  when  suddenly, 
and  in  an  instant,  it  blew  from  the  N.W.  I  was  in  my  berth 
below  when  this  squall  struck  the  vessel,  and  supposed  that  we 
had  run  upon  some  floating  timber  or  an  iceberg.  We  felt  the 
ship  heel  as  if  falling  over.  On  inquiry  next  day  of  the  captain, 
and  the  only  passenger  who  was  on  deck  at  the  time  of  this  con- 
cussion, I  learnt  that  they  saw  a  cloud  of  white  foam  ad/ancing 
toward  them  on  the  surface  of  the  sea  from  the  N.W.,  like  a 
line  of  surf  on  a  beach.  The  ca,ptain  had  time  to  get  the  sails 
hauled  half  up,  all  except  the  top-sail,  which  was  torn  to  pieces, 
when  the  advancing  line  of  foam  reached  the  ship,  at  which 
moment  there  was  some  vivid  lightning,  which  the  passenger 
thought  was  the  cause  of  the  blow  resembling  the  stroke  of  a 
solid  body  against  the  steamer.  When  the  wind  first  filled  the 
sails  in  an  opposite  direction,  it  seemed  as  if  the  masts  must  give 
way.  All  hands  had  been  called  on  deck,  and  the  men  went 
into  the  riggi.ig  to  furl  the  sails  v.'ith  the  utmost  order  and  cool- 
ness. In  a  lew  minutes  the  wind  had  veered  rapidly  round  the 
compass,  from  N.W.  to  N.E.,  and  then  went  on  to  blow  from 
this,  the  old  quarter  again,  a  perfect  hurricane  for  twenty-tnree 
hours ;  the  spray  being  carried  mast  high,  so  that  there  was  a 
complete  mingling  of  sea  and  sky.     We  could  never  tell  whether 


Chap.  I.] 


PORPOISES. 


15 


the  cloud  which  enveloped  us  consisted  chiefly  of  the  foam  blown 
off-  the  crests  of  the  waves,  or  of  the  driving  mist  and  rain  which 
were  falling  durmg  the  greater  part  of  the  day. 

Among  our  passengers  were  some  experienced  American  sea- 
captains,  who  had  commanded  vessels  of  their  own  round  Cape 
Horn,  and,  being  now  for  the  iirst  time  in  a  steamer  at  sea,  were 
watchu.g  with  profussional  interest  the  Britannia's  behavior  in 
the  storm.    They  came  to  the  conclusion,  that  one  of  these  vessels, 
well  appointed,  with  a  full  crew,  skilled  officers,  and  good  en- 
gineers, was  safer  than  any  sailing  packet ;  being  light  in  their 
riggmg,  and  having  small  sails,  they  run  no  danger  of  having 
their  masts  carried  away  in  a  stiff  breeze,  and  the  power  of  steam 
enables  ihem  always  to  make  way,  so  as  to  steer  and  keep  their 
head  to  the  wind,  on  which  safety  depends.     It  sometimes  hap- 
pens when  a  wave  strikes  a  sailing  vessel  in  a  squaU,  that  before 
ehe  has  time  to  work  round  and  get  her  head  to  windward,  an- 
other  wave  breaks  over  and  swamps  her,  and  to  such  an  accident 
the  loss  of  several  packets  between  the  United  States  and  Liver- 
pool IS  attributed. 

I  observed  that  there  was  no  lightning  conductor  in  our  ship  • 
and  It  seems  to  be  the  prevailing  behef  that  steam-boats  are  less 
liable  than  other  vessels  to  suffer  from  lightning,  althou.^h  the 

ductTrT'  "'  ^^^  '°^^^  "^"^  ^'^  ^"^"^  ^'^^  copper-wire  rope  con- 
My  chief  amusement,  when  the  weather  was  moderate,  was 
to  watch  the  porpoises  (Delphinus  phoccena)  gamboling,  roUing, 
and  tumb^mg  m  the  water,  and  yet  keeping  up  with  our  shft; 
when  she  was  running  eleven  miles  an  hour.      They  were  verv 
numerous,  usually  following  each  other  in  a  line  at  short  intervals 
each  individual  about  four  or  .^ve  feet  long,  their  backs  of  a  blue- 
ish-black  color,  swimming  without  effort,  and  seeming  scarcely  to 
move  either  their  fins  or  tail.     Occasionally  they  dive,  and  then 
re-appear  to  take  breath  at  a  great  distance,  often  leaping  up  out 
of  the  water,  so  as  to  display  their  silvery  white  bodies      The 
on  y  other  living  creatures  which  attracted  our  attention,  when 
still  t^v  from  land,  were  enormous  flights  of  sea-birds,  which  filled 
tne  air,  or  were  seen  swimming  on  tbn  no^an  «oo^  +i,«  =i,^„i  --ii-j 


16 


ICEBERG. 


fCHAP.  I, 


the  Flemish  Cap,  lat.  47°  35'  N.  ;  long.  44°  32'  W.  They 
feed  on  fish  peculiar  to  these  comparatively  shallow  parts  of  the 
Atlantic. 

But  the  event  of  chief  interest  to  me  on  this  voyage  was  be- 
holding, for  the  first  time  in  my  life,  a  large  iceb^g.  It  came 
in  sight  on  the  13th  Sept.,  a  season  when  they  aire  rarely  met 
with  here.  We  were  nearing  the  Great  Bank,  which  was  about 
eight  miles  distant,  the  air  foggy,  so  that  I  could  only  see  it 
dimly  through  the  telescope,  although  it  was  as  white  as  snow, 
and  supposed  by  the  officers  to  be  about  200  feet  high.  The 
foggy  and  chilly -state  of  the  atmosphere  had  led  the  captain  to 
suspect  the  proximity  of  floating  ice,  and  half-hourly  observations 
had  been  made  on  the  temperature  of  the  sea,  but  the  water  was 
always  at  49  »  F.,  as  is  usual  in  this  month.  We  were  then  in 
lat.  47^  37'  N.,  long.  45°  39'  W.,  our  latitude  corresponding  to 
that  of  the  Loire  in  France. 

To  a  geologist,  accustomed  to  seek  for  the  explanation  of  vari- 
ous phenomena  in  the  British  Isles  and  Northern  Europe,  espe- 
cially the  transportation  of  huge  stones  to  great  distances,  and  the 
polishing  and  grooving  of  the  surfaces  of  solid  rocks,  by  referring 
to  the  agency  of  icebergs  at  remote  periods,  when  much  of  what 
is  now  land  in  the  northern  hemisphere  was  still  submerged,  it  is 
no  small  gratification  to  see,  for  the  first  time,  one  of  these  icy 
masses  floating  so  far  to  the  southward.  I  learnt  from  our  cap- 
tain  that  last  year,  June  1 844,  he  fell  in  with  an  iceberg  aground 
at  some  distance  from  the  land  off"  Cape  Race,  on  the  S.e!  point 
of  Newfoundland,  in  lat.  46°  40'  N.  It  was  of  a  square  shape, 
100  feet  high,  and  had  stranded  in  a  sea  of  some  depth  ;  "for  its 
sides  were  steep,  and  soundings  of  fifty  fathoms  were  obtained 
close  to  the  ice.  It  was  seen  at  the  same  spot  ten  days  after- 
ward by  a  brig.  A  military  officer  on  board  also  tells  me  that 
Vist  year,  when  he  was  in  garrison  in  Newfoundland,  an  iceberg 
continued  aground  in  the  harbor  of  St.  John's  for  a  year,  and 
they  used  to  fire  cannon-balls  at  it  from  the  battery.  There  are, 
indeed,  innumerable  well-authenticated  cases  of  these  islands  of 
floating  ice  having  stranded  on  the  great  oceanic  shoals  S.E.  of 
Newfoundland,  even  in  places  where  the  water  is  no  less  than 


Chap.  I.] 


DRIFTING  OF  ICEBERGS. 


rr 


100  fathoms  deep,  the  average  depth  over  the  Great  Bank  beinff 
from  forty  to  fifty  fathoms.     That  they  should  be  arrested  i^ 
their  course  is  not  surprising,  when  we  consider  that  the  mass  of 
floating  ice  below  water  is  eight  times  greater  than  that  above  • 
and  Sir  James  Ross  saw  icebergs  which  had  rur.  aground  in 
Baffin  s  Bay,  m  water  1500  feet  deep.     If  we  reflect  on  the 
weight  of  these  enormous  masses,  and  the  momentum  which 
they  acquire  when  impelled  by  winds  and  currents,  and  when 
they  are  moving  at  the  rate  of  several  miles  an  hour,  it  seems 
ditticult  to  over-estimate  the  disturbance  which  they  must  create 
on  a  soft  bottom  of  mud  or  loose  sand,  or  the  grinding  power  they 
must  exert  when  they  grate,  along  a  shelf  of  solid  rock  overspread 
with  a  layer  of  sand. 

Mr.  Redfield  of  New  York  has  lately  published  *  a  chart  show- 
ing  the  positions  of  the  icebergs  observed  in  the  North  Atlantic 
during  the  last  fifteen  years,  and  it  will  be  remarked,  that  thev 
have  been  met  with  at  various  points  between  the  47th  and  36th 
parallels  of  latitude,  the  most  southern  being  that  which  Captain 
Couthuoy  encountered,  lat.  36°  10'  N.,  long.  39°  W  a  milp 
long  and  100  feet  high.  This  berg  was  on  the  extreme  southern 
boundary  of  the  gulf  stream,  which  it  had  crossed  against  the 
direction  of  the  superficial  current,  so  as  to  get  as  far  south  as  the 
latitude  of  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar.  In  fact,  these  great  ice- 
islands  coming  from  the  Greenland  seas  are  not  stopped  by  the 
gulf-stream,  which  is  a  mere  superficial  current  of  warmer  water 

fn"^  w'1''".i?^r'*'  '^^'''^^°"'  ^"*  ^^^  ^°^"«  ^W  from  N.E. 
to  S.W  by  the  force  of  the  arctic  under-current,  consisting  of 
colder  water,  into  which  the  icebergs  descend  to  a  great  depth. 

of  Thl  nnoT'.r'*r'''  T''"''"^  ""'^^  '^^  geographical  outline 
of  the  coast,  the  shape  of  the  sea-bottom,  the  oceanic  currents. 

l^Lt"  r'^^^l^^Sr  ^mds,  although  liable  to  be  modified  and 

greatly  altered  m  the  course  of  time,  may  continue  nearly  the 

ame  for  the  .^ext  ten  thousand  or  twenty  thousand  years  ;  and 

m  that  period  thousands  of  bergs,  occasionally  charged  with  frag- 

of  nW.  '"n  r  "^^"y  f.*h««^  ^""-"g  aground  in  a  variet^y 
of  places,  will  be  conveyed  m  every  century  over  certain  tracts 

*  Amer.  Journ.  Science,  vol.  xlviii.  1844. 


13 


COAST  OF  NEWFOUNDLAND. 


^^  [Obap.  I. 

of  the  Atlantic,  and  in  given  directions.     The  natii^„„rse  of 
oceanic  cumnts  transporting  ice  from  polar  region,  is  ftrN  E 
to  S.W.;  the  westerly  inclination  bci^  due  fo  the  inZ„f^„f 
the  increased  velocity  of  the  diurnal  rotation  of  the  e7rJh"s  snr 
face  as  we  proceed  southward.     Now  it  is  a  weU-tao™  fee 
Ji  one  of  great  geological  interest,  which  I  had  an  onZt^Ttv 
of  verifyuig  myself  in  1848,*  that  in  Canada  the  pohshTCS 
of  hard  rocks  exhibit  those  stri»  and  straight  paralldgrooves 
(s»h  as  are  generally  ascribed  to  glacial  action)\TNf  a^d 

■R^Kui:  ■  ,  ^''^"  '"""^-  therefore,  agrees,  as  Mr 
Redfield  has  pointed  out,  with  the  norma]  direction  of  liar  curi 
rents  charged  with  ice,  where  no  disturbing  causes  W  nter 

P™  that  C^Ltd?  """1*  «"*>>»  phenomenon,  woh:"  t  sup! 
pose  that  Canada  was  submerged  at  the  time  when  the  rocks 

sea  dottom  ,  and  that  this  was  actually  the  case,  is  proved  bv  in 
dependent  evidence,  namely,  the  occurrence  of  marine  shelfs  "f 
recent  spcc.es  at  various  heights  above  the  le  "l  of 'he  ta  in 

has  shown  that,  m  Massachusetts,  there  is  another  system  of 
stria,  and  groove,  running  from  N.N.E.  to  S.S.W^^-  the  Cld 
ers  and  transported  blocks  of  the  same  region  having  taken  a  cor 
responding  course,  doubtless,  in  consequence  of  the  floatTng  ice. 

Sl'laroTihT/'d'  '7'  "r  ""^^^  "^  -■"^'  or  crrJl^Ss,  or 
dtcTioT  sea-bottom,  to  deviate  from  the  normal 

m  the  Atkntic,  are  covered  with  seals,  which  are  thus  brought 
into  very  uncongenial  climates,  and  probably  are  never  able  to 
make  their  way  back  again.  They  are  often  seen  playin.  abom 
eem'tr?  .*"''  "f  Massachusetts  in  summer' J  th^attry 
sXbb  iieir  "™  "'  ''^'-  *"  """"■"-^^'^  *"--'-  to  con! 
Early  on  the  morning  of  the  ISth  of  September,  the  captain 

*  IMd."vK  mI?''  "  ""'*  ^"'-«»'"  -■•  «■  P-  "35.         . 


Chap  I.] 


ENGINE-ROOM  OF  A  STEAMER. 


f» 


got  sight  of  laud,  consisting  of  the  hills  near  St.  John's,  New- 
foundJand,  about  forty  miles  distant.  When  we  came  on  deck, 
we  were  running  rapidly  in  smooth  water  along  the  shore,  within 
four  miles  of  Trespassey  Bay.  The  atmosphere  was  bright,  and 
we  had  a  clear  view  of  the  rocky  coast,  which  reminded  me  of 
some  of  the  most  sterile,  cold,  and  treeless  parts  of  Scotland. 
Not  even  a  shrub  appeared  to  vary  the  uniform  covering  of  green 
turf;  yet  we  were  in  a  latitude  corresponding  to  the  South  of 
France. 

In  a  large  steam-ship  like  the  Britannia,  there  are  three  very 
distinct  societies,  whose  employments  during  the  voyage  are  sin- 
gularly  contrasted.     There  are  the  sailors,  all  of  whom  were 
fully  occupied  under  their  officers,  for  a  time  at  least,  durinrr  the 
gale,  furling  the  sails  and  attending  to  the  ordinary  duties°of  a 
sailmg  ship.      Then  there  is  the  saloon,  where  gentlemen  and 
well-dressed  ladies  are  seen  lounging  and  reading  books,  or  talk- 
ing, or  playing  backgammon,  and  enjoying,  except  during  a  hur- 
ricane, the  luxuries  and  expensive  fare  of  a  large  hotel.     Tn 
another  spacious  room,  which  I  had  the  curiosity  to  visit  after 
the  storm,  is  a  large  corps  of  enginemen  and  firemen,  with  sooty 
faces  and  soiled  clothes,  pale  with  heat,  heaping  up  coals  on  the 
great  furnaces,  or  regulating  the  machinery.      On  visitino-  the 
large  engine-room,  we  were  filled  with  admiration  at  8eein<r  the 
complicated  apparatus,  and  the  ease  with  which  it  moved,  having 
never  once  stopped  for  a  minute  when  traversing  3000  miles  of 
ocean,  although   the  vessel  had  been  pitching  and  rolling   and 
sometimes  quivering,  as  she  was  forced  by  the  power  of  the  steam 
against  the  opposing  waves,  and  although  the  ship  had  sometimes 
heeled  at  a  very  high  angle,  especially  when  struck  suddenly  by 
the  squall  of  the  14th.     The  engii^e  is  so  placed  near  the  center 
ot  the  ship,  that  during  a  storm  the  piston  is  never  inclined  at  a 
higher  angle  than  twelve  degrees,  which  does  not  derange  the 
freedom  of  its  motion.     The  Britannia,  a  ship  of  1200  tons,  has 

Z^l  f  }'?^^'''  *^^  ^"^'"^'  ^^^^n^  a  440  horse  power. 
When  she  left  Liverpool  she  had  550  tons  of  coals  in  her,  and 
burned  from  thirt-  tc  forty  tons  a  day,  her  speed  augmenting 
sensibly  toward  Ut  end  of  the  voyage,  as  she  ^row  lirrhter  • 


HWPHBl 


2C 


REVOLUTIONS  OF  ENGINE. 


[Chaf.  I. 

oirc'o,  registers  the  nZC,le        ,  °'''  """"S  """"^  ■"  « 

attached  to  one  of  *),»  ml  •    ^  f ',  '"""'  "  "'d'"'  •»■»? 

»l.iht,y  by  eve":;  It  r'jXoi„""''a.'"tf ,'"  ^'™"'=« 
rate  of  ten  and  a  half  mill  T  ^  °  "*  ""^  '™''  «'  the 
were  revolving  fift'enld^Lf".-"'  """  *°  P^-ldla-wheels 
gale  they  had%ni;  made  sk  o  s-T  ^  ""r?" '  ''"'  '*''""»  *e 
to  avoid  too  great  a  Tain  n?, I  =«^»  evolutions,  the  engineer. 
much  less  coaTa  ,d  lT„^  „„  *'  '»f/=''™'7.  having  then  burned 

e»t  day's  sdl    durinfT     T^"  **"  '"'"'  '^'^-     «»'  *»rt. 
y  a  HdiJ,  aunng  the  whole  vovawe    wa«j  1 1  .t  w,;i  t 

-observed,  on  our  arrival  at  Boston  th  °  i  J  i  i^''  ^ 
tions  registered  by  the  Indicator  wl  2"^^^^^^^  T'^- 

run  2946  miles  in  fnnrto.     j  ^/ 0,1^2,  the  ship  having 

distance  imLiveUonoLlT  T^  '"™'^-'™  ■>»»-;  «>>« 
thence  to  BcstoiTr  Foftb^  t'"^.  '''°  "''*»•  "»«  f-™ 
with  former  voyages  of  fte   B  %         "f  comparing  this  result 

«..raet  from  the^L^^l^'"^  rcrfl^in^^:.!'"'  ^°"-'"« 


Outward  Voyage,  May.  1845  . 
iiomeward    do.       June       " 
Outward       do.       July^'     « 
Homeward    do.      August  " 


Number  of 

Revolutions 

of  the  Engines. 

.  273,328  .  . 

.  253,073  .  . 

•  282,409  .  . 

.  292,122 


Length  itf 

Voyage. 

Days.  Hours. 

.  14  12 

.  11  8 

.  18  13 

14  2 


the'L'^ireTtrttTt""'"  *'''  "™''"  °f'«"''-  -^^  "y 

the  v„y%e  ^f  Zt'iiy  is^^  ^^1^^:  :r:^''  ^ 

length  with  the  exception  of  a  few  hours  Zl"  '""^ 

numbers,  amounts  to  no  m«r«  +u  nignest  and  lowest 

whole.     It  is  iS^e  the  1^1  ?""  ^  '''^'"*'^  ''  '^^^'^  °f  the 

given  number  ^^  I^^^X  X^^^^ 


Chap.  I,] 


COOLIES  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES. 


^i 


excitement  and  more  rapid  motion,  and  being  slower  whe-i  in 
comparative  rest,  yet  on  the  whole  preserving  a  remarkable 
uniformity  of  action.  Nor  can  any  one  in  full  health  and  vigor 
be  more  unconscious  of  the  rapid  contractions  and  dilatations^f 
the  heart,  than  are  nearly  all  the  inmates  of  the  steam-ship  of 
the  complicated  works  and  movements  of  the  machinery,  on  the 
accuracy  of  which  their  progress  and  safety  depends. 

In  the  course  of  the  last  twelve  months,  the  steamers  on  this 
line  have  sometimes  taken  as  much  as  seventeen,  and  even 
twenty-one  days,  to  make  their  passage  against  head  winds  by 
Halifax  to  Boston;  but  the  comparative  advantage  of  steam 
power  is  never  more  evident  than  at  the  period  of  the  most 
tedious  voyages,  the  liners  having  required  seventy  days  or  more 
to  cross  in  corresponding  seasons. 

During  the  passage  we  had  some  animated  discussions  in  the 
saloon   on  the  grand  experiment   now  making  by  the  British 
government,  of  importing  Coolies,  or  Hindoo  emigrants,  from  the 
Deccan  into  the  West  Indies,  to  make  up  for  the  deficiency  of 
Nejrro  labor  consequent  on  the  emancipation  of  the  slaves.      We 
had  on  board  a  Liverpool  merchant,  who  had  a  large  contract 
for  conveying  these  Coolies  across  the  ocean,  and  who  told  us 
that  more  than  forty  ships  would  be  employed  this  year  (1845) 
in  carrying  each  300  Hindoo  laborers  to  Jamaica,  at  the  cost  of 
£16  per  head,  and  that  he  should  sell  the  casks,  which  con- 
tamed  the  water  for  their  drink,  for  the  sugar  trade  in  the  West 
Indies.     The  New  Englanders  on  board  wished  to  know  how 
far  this  proceeding  differed  from  a  new  slave  trade.      It  was 
explained  to  them  that  the  emigrants  were  starving  in  their  own 
country ;  that  the  act  was  a  voluntary  one  on  their  part ;   and 
that,  after  a  short  term  of  years,  the  government  was  bound  to 
give  them  a  free  passage  back  to  their  native  country.     Of  this 
privilege   many,   after  saving   a   sum   of  money,  had   actually 
availed  themselves.     It  was  also  alleged  that  they  made  good 
agricultural  laborers  in  a  tropical  climate.      The  Americans 
rephed,  that  to  introduce   into  any  colony  two   distinct  races 
having  different  languages  and  religions,  such  as  Negroes  and 
Hindoos,  IS  a  curse  of  the  greatest  magnitude,  and  of  the  most 


00! 


COOMES  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES. 


tCHAP.  I. 


lasting  kind,  as  experience  had  proved  throughout  the  American 
continent. 

A  Barbadoes  planter,  who  was  present,  declared  his  opinion 
that  m  his  island  the  emancipation  of  the  negroes  had  been  suc- 
cessful ;  the  population,  about  120,000,  being  dense,  and  a  larire 
proportion  of  them  having  white  blood  in  their  veins,  with  many 
oi  the  wants  of  civilized  men,  and  a  strong  wish  to  educate  their 
children.      The  Americans,  however,  drew  from  him  the  admis- 
sion, that  in  proportion  as  the  colored  people  were  risino-  in  so- 
ciety, the   whites,  whose   aristocratic  feelings   and   tastes  were 
wounded  by  the  increased  importance  of  the  inferior  race  were 
leaving  Barbadoes,  the  richest  of  +hem  retreating  to  England 
and  the  poor  seeking  their  fortunes  .n  the  United  States.     It  was 
also  conceded,  that  in  the  larger  islands,  such  as  Jamaica,  which 
the  Americans  compared  to  their  Southern  States,  the  negroe« 
have  retreated  to  unoccupied  lands  and  squatted,  and  could  not 
be  induced  to  labor,  and  were  therefore  retrograding  in  civiliza- 
tion ;  ^  that  the  experience  of  more  than  ten  years  would  be 
required  before  the  Americans  could  feel  warranted  in  imitating 
the  example  of  England,  even  if  they  had  the  means  of  indemnf- 
lying  the  southern  planters. 

We  landed  at  Halifax  on  the  17th  of  September,  and  spent 
some  hours  there  very  agreeably,  much  refreshed  by  a  walk  on 
terra  firma,  and  glad  to  call  on  some  friends  in  the  town  1 
was  surprised  to  find  that  some  of  our  fellow  passengers,  bound 
tor  Montreal,  intended  to  go  on  with  us  to  Boston,  instead  of 
stopping  here ;  so  great  are  the  facilities  now  enjoyed  of  travelin-r 
from  New  England  to  Canada,  passing  via  Boston  by  railway  to 
Albany,  and  thence  by  steam-boats  through  Lakes  George  and 
Champlain  to  Montreal. 

The  chief  subject  of  conversation,  during  the  remaining  two 
days  of  our  voyage,  was  the  death  of  Judge  Story,  the  eminent 
jurist,  whose  works  and  decisions  have  been  often  cited  as  of  high 
authority  by  English  judges.  The  news  of  this  unexpected  event 
reached  us  at  Halifax,  and  was  evidently  a  matter  of  deep  con- 
cwn  to  his  fellow  citizens,  by  whom  he  had  been  much  loved  and 
admired.     After  retiring  from  the  bench  of  the  Supreme  Court 


il 


Chap.  I.] 


JUDGE  STORY. 


23 


at  Washington,  Story  had  been  placed  at  the  head  of  the  Law 
School  in  Harvard  University,  which  he  had  soon  raised  to  celeb- 
rity from  small  beginnings,  drawing  students  to  his  lectures  from 
every  state  of  the  Union. 

I  afterward  read,  in  the  newspapers  of  Boston,  several  funeral 
orations  pronounced  in  his  honor,  some  from  the  pulpit,  by  preach- 
ers of  his  own  denomination  (he  was  president  of  the  Unitarian 
Association),  which  praised  him  for  his  pure,  scriptural,  and  lib- 
eral Christianity,  and  represented  him  as  an  earnest  defender  of 
the  faith,  one  who  had  given  to  its  evidences  that  accurate  inves- 
tigation which  his  reflecting  mind  and  professional  habits  demand- 
ed. "What  he  found  to  be  true,  he  was  never  ashamed  or  afraid 
to  declare.  He  valued  the  Gospel  and  felt  his  own  need  of  its 
restraining  and  consoling  power,  alike  in  temptation  and  grief," 
&c. 

But  eloquent  eulogies  were  not  wanting  from  ministers  of  some 
of  the  other  churches,  usually  called  in  New  England,  by  way 
of  distinction  from  the  Unitarian,  "  orthodox,"  some  of  which 
displayed  at  once  the  intensity  and  liberality  of  sectarian  feeling 
in  this  country.  They  did  homage  to  his  talents  and  the  upright- 
ness of  his  conduct,  and  they  dealt  with  his  theological  opinions  in 
the  spirit  of  Dryden's  beautiful  lines  : 

"  The  soul  of  Arcite  went  where  heathens  go, 
Who  better  live  than  we,  though  less  they  know." 

I  will  extract,  from  one  of  the  most  favorable  of  these  efiusions, 
the  following  passage  : 

"  Judge  Story  was  a  Christian  who  professed  a  firm  belief  in 
the  Bible  as  a  revelation  from  God.  He  was  a  Unitarian ;  but 
if  he  reposed  in  the  divine  mercy  through  the  mediation  of 
Christ,  and  if  he  came  with  the  temper  of  a  child  to  the  Scrip- 
tures, I  have  no  doubt  he  has  been  received  of  Him  to  whom,  in 
his  last  words,  he  committed  himself  in  prayer  ;  and,  had  he  been 
more  orthodox  in  his  creed  without  the  Christian  spirit  and  the 
Christian  life,  his  orthodoxy  would  not  have  saved  him." 

Sept.  19. — Early  in  the  morning  of  the  fifteenth  day  from 
our  leaving  Liverpool,  we  came  in  sight  of  the  lighthouse  of  Cape 


24 


SEVERE  FROST  AT  BOSTON. 


[ClIA 


Anne,  and  a  small  and  gayly  painted  greon  schooner,  in  full  sa/i, 
and  scudding  rapidly  through  the  water,  brought  us  a  pilot.  In 
a  few  hours  the  long  line  of  coast  became  more  and  more  distinct, 
till  Salem,  Nahant,  Lynn,  the  harbor  of  Boston  and  its  islands, 
and  at  last  the  dome  of  the  State  House,  crowning  the  highest 
cmmence,  came  full  into  view.  To  us  the  most  novel  feature  in 
the  architectural  aspect  of  the  city,  was  the  Bunker  Hill  Menu- 
ment,  which  had  been  erected  since  1842  ;  the  forai  of  which, 
as  it  resembles  an  Egyptian  obelisk,  and  possibly  because  I  had 
seen  that  fo-  m  imitated  in  some  of  our  tall  factory  chimneys,  gave 
me  no  pleasure. 

After  the  cloudy  and  stormy  weather  we  had  encountered  in 
the  Atlantic,  and  the  ice  and  fogs  seen  near  the  great  banks,  we 
were  delighted  with  the  clear  atmosphere  and  bright  sunshine  of 
r.oston,  and  heard  with  surprise  of  the  intense  heat  of  the  sum- 
mer, of  which  many  persons  had  lately  died,  especially  in  New 
York.  The  extremes,  indeed,  of  heat  and  cold  in  this  country, 
are  truly  remarkable.  Looking  into  the  windows  of  a  print 
shop,  I  saw  an  engraving  of  our  good  ship,  the  Britannia,  which 
we  had  just  quitted,  represented  as  in  the  act  of  forcing  her  way 
through  the  ice  of  Boston  harbor  in  the  winter  oi  1844— a  truly 
arctic  scene.  A  fellow  passenger,  a  merchant  from  New  York, 
where  they  are  jealous  of  the  monopoly  hitherto  enjoyed  by  their 
New  England  rival,  of  a  direct  and  regular  steam  communica- 
tion with  Europe,  remarked  to  me  that  if  the  people  of  Boston 
had  been  wise,  they  would  never  have  encouraged  the  publication 
of  this  print,  as  it  was  a  clear  proof  that  the  British  government 
should  rather  have  selected  New  York,  where  the  sea  never 
freezes,  as  the  fittest  port  for  the  mail  packets.  I  had  heard 
much  during  the  voyage  of  this  strange  adventure  of  the  Britan- 
nia in  the  ice.  Last  winter  it  appears  there  had  been  a  frost  of 
unusual  intensity,  such  as  had  not  been  known  for  more  than  half 
a  century,  which  caused  the  sea  to  be  frozen  over  in  the  harbor 
of  Boston,  although  the  water  is  as  salt  there  as  in  mid-ocean. 
Moreover,  the  tide  runs  there  at  the  rate  of  four  or  five  miles  an 
hour,  rising  twelve  feet,  and  causing  the  whole  body  of  the  ice  to 
be  uplifted  and  let  down  again  to  that  amount  twice  every  twen- 


Chap.  I.] 


SEVERE  FROST  AT  BOSTON. 


ty-four  hours.  Notwithstanding  this  movement,  the  surface  re- 
mamed  even  and  unbroken,  except  along  the  shore,  where  it 
cracked. 

Had  the  continuance  of  this  frost  been  anticipated,  it  would 
have  been  easy  to  keep  open  a  passage  ;  but  on  the  1st  of  Feb- 
ruary when  the  Britannia  was  appointed  to  sail,  it  was  found 
that  the  Ke  was  seven  feet  thick  in  the  wharf,  and  two  feet 
thick  for  a  distance  of  seven  miles  out ;  so  that  wagons  and  carts 
w'ere  conveying  cotton  and  other  freights  from  the  shore  to  the 
edge  of  the  ice,  where  ships  were  taking  in  their  cargoes  No 
sooner  was  it  understood  that  the  mail  was  imprisoned!  than  the 
public  spirit  of  the  whole  city  was  roused,  and  a  large  sum  of 

and  100  feet  wide,  through  the  ice.      They  began  the  operation 

pWh  Z        k'T"'*  '""T'  "^^"  ^"^^•^^  ^-P'  -ith'an  ice 
plough  drawn  by  horses,  and   then  sawed  the  ice  into  square 

sheets,  each  100  feet  in  diameter.      When  these  wer    detached 

hey  were  made  to  slide,  by  means  of  iron  hooks  and  ropes  fixed 

to  them  under  the  great  body  of  the  ice,  one  edge  bei^g  first 

depressed  and  the  ropes  being  pulled  by  a  team  of  horsef,  and 

occasionally  by  a  body  of  fifty  men.      On  the  3d  of  February 

through  a  newly-formed  sheet  of  ice.  two  inches  thick,  her  bows 
being  fortified  with  iron  to  protect  her  copper  sheet  ng.  She 
burst  through  the  ice  at  the  rate  of  seven  miles  an  hour  without 

aU  her  guard  of  iron  had  been  torn  oft:      An  eye-witness  of  the 

ered  by  a  slight  fall  of  snow,  and  a  concourse  of  people  followed 

oatsird  /r  t  f  "*  S'?  ""^  ^"  ^^^'^^^'  °'he?s  in" 
whtir      ^  J°"°  ^^^^''  "^ ''''''  ^^^  «^^t««.  by  means  of 

The  tin/'bu?  T'  T'^^  '^°  '^  *^^^^  ^^^^«'  -°*U  befor 
tne  wind,  but  even  with  a  side  wind,  taokin«^  and  beatlnir  in 

windward  as  if  they  were  in  the  water.  ^ 

The  Britannia,  released  from  her  bonds,  reached  Livernool  in 
^fteen  days,  so  that  no  alarm  had  been  occasioned  by  tie  delv 


'-'6 


CUSTOM-HOUSE  OFFICKRS. 


[Chap.  i. 


tho  expense  of  the  ice-channel,  the  citizcni,  ut'  Boston  declined  to 
bo  reimbursed. 

We  were  not  detained  more  than  an  hour  in  tlie  Custom- 
house, although  tho  number  of  our  packages  was  great.  In  that 
hour  the  newspapers  which  had  come  out  with  us  had  been  so 
rapidly  distributed,  that  our  carriage  was  assailed  in  the  streets 
by  a  host  of  vociferous  boys,  calling  out,  "  Fifteen  days  later 
from  Europe" — "  The  Times  and  Punch  just  received  by  the 
Britannia."  In  the  course  of  my  travels  in  the  United  States  I 
heard  American  politicians  complaining  of  the  frequent  change 
of  officials,  high  and  low,  as  often  as  a  new  party  comes  into 
power.  In  spite  of  this  practice,  however,  tlie  Custom-house 
officers,  greatly  to  the  comfort  of  the  public,  belong  to  a  uigher 
grade  of  society  than  those  at  Liverpool  and  our  principal  ports. 
I  asked  a  New  England  friend,  who  was  well  acquainted  witli 
the  "  Old  Country,"  whether  the  subordinates  here  are  more 
highly  paid  ?  "  By  no  means,"  he  replied.  "  The  difference, 
*hen,"  said  T,  "  must  be  owing  to  the  better  education  given  to 
•,U  in  your  public  schools?"  "Perhaps,  in  some  degree,"  he 
rejoined ;  "  but  far  more  to  the  peculiarity  of  our  institutions. 
Recent  examples  are  not  wanting  of  men  who  hove  passed  in  a 
few  years  from  the  chief  place  in  one  of  our  great  Custom-houses 
to  a  seat  in  the  Cabinet  or  an  appointment  as  embassador  to  a 
first-rate  European  power ;  but,  what  is  far  more  to  the  point, 
men  who  are  unsuccessful  at  the  bar  or  the  church,  often  accept 
inferior  stations  in  the  Custom-house  and  other  public  offices 
without  loss  of  social  position."  This  explanation  led  me  to 
reflect  how  much  the  British  public  might  gain  if  a  multitude 
of  the  smaller  places  in  the  public  service  at  home,  now  slighted 
by  aristocratic  prejudices  as  ungenteel,  were  filled  by  those  gentle- 
men who,  after  being  highly  educated  -'  Eton  and  other  public 
schools,  lead  now  a  pastoral  life  in  Austvasi  o:  spend  tl  .ni  best 
days  in  exile  far  from  their  kindred  and  ytativo  land,  as  soldiers 
or  sailors,  within  the  tropics. 


1  declined  to 


CHAPTER  II. 

Boston—Horticultural  Show  in  Fanoui!  Hall—Roview  of  Militia—Peace 
Assocmtion.-ExcurMon  to  the  White  Mountains—Railway  Traveling 
-Portsmou  h  New  Hampshire— Geology,  Fossils  in  Drift— SubmaSfe 
Gw;-  l7  '•  !'•-/-  Asters,  Solidagos,  Poison  Ivy—SwallowT- 
Glacal  Grooves— Rocks  transported  by  Antarctic  Ice— Body  of  a  Wha'e 
discovered  by  un  American  Trader  in  an  Iceberg.  'avvna.e 

Great  progress  has  been  made  in  beautifying  the  city  of 
Boston  by  new  public  buildings  in  the  three  years  since  we  were 
last  here  Several  of  these  are  constructed  of  granite,  in  a  hand- 
some style  of  arcliitecture.  The  site  of  the  town  is  almost  an 
island,  which  has  been  united  to  the  main  land  by  long  mounds 
which  are  beginning  to  radiate  in  all  directions,  except  the  east,' 
like  the  spokes  of  a  wheel.  Railway  trains  are  seen  continually 
flying  to  and  fro  along  these  narrow  causeways  at  all  hours  of 
the  day. 

On  the  evening  of  our  arrival  we  went  to  a  horticultural  show 
of  frui    and  flowers  m  Faneuil  Hall,  where  we  found  a  large 
assembly  of  both  sexes  enjoying  a  "  temperance  feast,"  a  band  of 
music  in  the  gallery,  and  the  table  spread  with  cakes,  fruit,  ices 
tea,  milk,  and  whey.     I  was  glad  to  observe,  what  I  am  told 
however,  is  an  innovation  here,  that  the  ladies,  instead  of  merel^ 
ooking  on  from  a  gallery  to  see  the  gentlemen  eat,  were  sitting 
at    able  m  the  body  of  the  hall,  and  listening,  to  some  of  the  firs^ 
orators  of   he  land,  Daniel  Webster,  R.  C.  Winthrop,  and  our 
Inend  and  late  fellow-voyager  in  the  Britannia,  Edward  Everett 
whose  reception   on  his  return  from  his  embassy  to  England  was 
most  enthusiastic.      He  said,  «  he  had  been  so  latelv  rockir^g  o„ 
the  Atlantic,  whose  lullaby  was  not  always  of  the  gentlest   that 
h.  was  hardly  fit  for  a  rocking  in  ^the  old  cradle  TSrty' 
and  felt  almost  unconsciously  inclined  to  catch  at  the  table  to 
steady  himself;  expecting  to  see  the  flowers  and  the  fruit  fetch 
away  in  some  lee-lurch.      Even  the  pillars  of  old  Faneuil  Hall 


im,ssa 


mSmmrmmmm 


28 


REVIEW  OF  MILITIA. 


[Chap.  II, 


which  are  not  often  found  out  of  the  true  plumb-line,  seemed  to 
reel  over  his  head." 

Allusion  was  here  made  to  this  Hall  having  been  the  place  of 
large  popTtJar  meetings  before  1775,  where  American  patriotism 
was  /irst  roused  to  make  a  stand  against  the  claims  of  the  mother- 
country  to  impose  taxes  without  consent  of  the  provincial  legis- 
lature. In  later  days,  the  building  being  under  the  control  of 
the  city  authorities,  and  the  Whigs  being  usually  in  the  ascendant 
here,  the  moderate  party  have  almoot  always  obtained  possession 
of  the  Hall. 

Sejyt.  23. — From  the  windows  of  a  friend's  house,  opening  on 
the  Common,  we  have  a  full  view  of  what  is  called  th«i  "  Fall 
Parade,"  or  autumnal  review  of  the  Boston  militia,  cavalry  and 
infantry,  which  has  lasted  all  day,  ending  with  a  sham  fight  and 
much  firing  of  cannon.  Not  that  there  is  any  excess  of  military 
fervor  in  this  StatC:  as  in  some  others  at  the  present  moment; 
on  the  contrary,  a  numerous  and  increasing  Peace  Association  is 
distributing,  gratis,  many  thousand  copies  of  a  recent  Fourth-of- 
July  oration  against  war  and  military  establishments,  delivered 
by  Mr.  Charles  Sumner.  I  was  asked  by  a  young  friend  here, 
in  full  uniform,  whether  I  did  not  think  "  Independence-day"  (an 
anniversary  when  ail  who  have  a  regimental  costume  are  accus- 
tomed to  wear  it),  a  most  inappropriate  time  for  such  an  effusion, 
in  which  non-resistance  principles  bordering  on  QuakeHsm  had 
been  avowed  ;  the  orator  asking,  among  other  questions,  "  What 
is  the  use  of  the  militia  of  the  United  States  ?"  and  going  as  far 
as  Channing  in  pronouncing  war  to  be  unchristian. 

I  remembered  having  once  admired  the  present  Bishop  of  St. 

Asaph  for  choosing  a  certain  day,   set  apart  by  the   English 

Church  for  commemorating  the  "  conspiracy,  malicious  practices, 

and  Popish  tyranny  of  the  Romanists,"  for  preaching  a  sermon 

on  religious  toleration ;  and  I  therefore  felt  some  hesitation  in 

condemning  the  opportunity  seized  upon  by  an  enthusiast  of  the 

peace  party  for  propagating  his  views.  • 

"  There  is  a  soul  of  goodness  in  things  evil 
Would  men  observingly  distill  it  out." 

So  long  as  the  War  of  Independence  lasted,  I  can  understand 


^aa»>--.»n-^aw.w;Mat^,6tea^^a«Mfcft3l«i»^V« 


!  I 


Chap.  II.J 


line,  seemed  to 


an  understand 


PEACE  ASSOCIATION. 


29 


the  policy  of  annually  reading  out  to  the  assembled  multitude  the 
celebrated  .« Declaration."  setting  forth  the  injuries  inflicted  by 
trreat  i3ritain,  her  usurpations  previous  to  the  year  1776  "her 
design  to  reduce  the  Americans  to  a  state  of  absolute  dependence 
by  quartering  armed  troops  upon  the  people-refusing  to  make 
the  judges  independent  of  the  crown-imposing  tax?s  without 
consent  of  the  colonies--depriving  them  of  trial  by  jury— some- 
times  suspending  their  legislatures-waging  war  against  the 
colomes,  and  transporting  to  their  shores  large  armies  of  foreign 

tyranny  already  begun,  with  circumstances  of  cruelty  and  n^dv 

ZrrttC^^'  "  '''  ""i  '"'^""^  ages-excit'ing  4^1 
meXi  T  V  ""^^"^  '"  '^'  inhabitants  of  the  frontiers  the 
merciless  Indian  savages,  whose  known  rule  of  warfare  is  the' 
destmction  of  all  ages,  sexes,  and  conditions,"  &c    &c 

.f        1  *^''  .T^^^  ""^^  ^^'^'^  ^"^^  expedient  when  the  great 
^ruggle  for  hbexty  and  national  existence  was  still  pending  f  bu 
what  effect  can  it  have  now,  but  to  keep  alive  bad  feeWs  and 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  what  should  nearly  beTrg     ^it  t 

W  eitheAr^l  '''*"  *'^  "^^J"-^*^  ''  *^«  -*-'  P°P«Iation 
have  either  themselves  come  out  from  the  British  Isles  as  new 

settlers,  or  are  the  children  or  grandchildren  of  men  who  emZ 

grated  since  the  .■Declaration"  was  drawn  up.      i?  tl-Zl 

hey  pour  out  in  schools,  or  at  Fourth-of-July  meetin.  ,  declal: 

^  w  tie''  r"'"  ^°™*  ^'^«  ^'^^^^h  o;p;es::rof 

An.  erica  their  words  are  uttered  by  parricidal  lips,  for  thev  are 
t  lZ^::r^^^^^^^^  -^  °^^^^  aggneveVpartyltV:; 

To  many  the  Peace  Associations  appear  to  aim  at  obiects  as 
Utopian  and  hopeless  as  did  the  Temperance  Societies  to  the 
generation  which  is  now  passing  away."^  The  cessat  1  of  wa 

iquors.     But  we  have  seen  a  great  moral  reform  brou-ht  about 

in  many  populous  districts,  mainly  by  combined  efforts  of  we": 

S  tt  hS-"  Y^TT  -*^-P™,  and  we  maylpe 

^simL'^'^^^^^^^^^^  ''':^^^  may  beniitigated  a[  Jst 

-  !„..„.     ..^^  the  haroor  of  Jioston,"  says  Mr. 


30 


ENVIRONS  OF  BOSTON. 


[Chap.  If. 


ilt 


Sumner,  -  the  Ohio,  a  ship  of  the  line,  of  ninety  guns,  is  no^^ 
swinging  idly  at  her  moorings.  She  costs  as  much  annually  to 
raamtain  1  er  m  service,  in  salaries,  wages,  and  provisions,  as  four 
Harvard  Universities."  He  might  have  gone  on  to  calculate 
how  many  primary  schools  might  be  maintained  by  the  disband- 
ing of  single  regiments,  or  the  paying  off  of  single  ships,  of  those 
vast  standing  armies  and  navies  now  kept  up  in  so  many  coun- 
tries m  Europe.  How  much  ignorance,  bigotry,  and  savarre 
barbarism  in  the  lower  classes  might  be  prevented  by  employincr 
in  education  a  small  part  of  the  revenues  required  to  maintain 
this  state  of  arm'^d  peace  ! 

Sejit.  22 — At  this  season  the  wealthier  inhabitants  of  Boston 
are  absent  at  watering-places  in  the  hills,  where  there  are  mine- 
ral springs,  or  at  the  sea-side.  Some  of  them  in  their  country 
villas,  where  we  visited  several  friends  in  the  neighborhood  The 
environs  of  Boston  are  very  agreeable  ;  woods  and  hills,  and  bare 
rocks  and  small  lakes,  and  estuaries  running  far  into  the  land, 
and  lanes  with  hedges,  and  abundance  of  wild  flowers  The 
extreme  heat  of  summer  does  not  allow  of  the  green  meadows 
and  verdant  lawns  of  England,  but  there  are  some  well-kept 
gardens  here—a  costly  luxury  where  the  wages  of  labor  are  bo 
high. 

Sept.  24 — I  had  determined  before  the  autumn  was  over  to 
make  an  excursion  to  the  White  Mountains  of  New  Hampshire, 
which,  with  the  exception  of  those  in  part  of  the  Alleghany 
range  m  North  Carolina,  are  the  loftiest  east  of  the  Mississippi 
Accordingly,   I  set  off  with  my  wife  on  the  railway  for  Ports- 
mouth,  fifty-four  miles  north  of  Boston,  M-hich  we  reached  in  two 
hours  and  three  quarters,  having  stopped  at  several  intervening 
places,  and  going  usually  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour 
Ihere  were  about  eighty  passengers  in  the  train,  forty  of  whom 
were  in  the  same  carriage  as  ourselves.      '«  The  car,"  in  shape 
like  a  long  omnibus,  has  a  passage  down  the  middle,  sometimes 
called  «  the  aisle."  on  the  back  part  of  which  the  seats  are  ran<red 
transversely  to  the  length  of  the  apartment,  which  is  high  enough 
to  allow  a  tall  man  to  walk  in  it  with  his  hat  on.     Each  selt 
holds  two  persons,  and  is  well-cushioned  and  furnished  with  a 


t  .i>«V?c* KMO.'^  a^> 'F-"'  r-^'-m-iri'if^t-i- «r1rirr-iB¥ii  nn 


Chah.  II.] 


RAILWAY  TRAVELING, 


3J 


wooden  back  ingeniously  contrived,  so  as  to  turn  and  permit  the 
traveler  to  face  either  way,  as  he  may  choose  to  converse  with 
any  acquamtance  who  may  be  sitting  before  or  behind  him 
The  long  row  of  windows  on  each  side  affords  a  good  view  of 
the  country,  of  which  more  is  thus  seen  than  on  our  En«rlish 
railroads.  The  trains,  moreover,  pass  frequently  through"  the 
streets  of  villages  and  towns,  many  of  which  have  sprung  up 
smce  the  construction  of  the  railway.  The  conductor  passes 
freely  through  the  passage  in  the  center,  and  from  one  car  to 
another,  examming  tickets  and  receiving  payment,  so  as  to  pre- 
vent  any  delay  at  the  stations. 

If  we  desire  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  relative  accommoda- 
tion,  advantages,  comforts,  and  cost  of  the  journey  in  one  of  these 
railways  as  compared  with  those  of  England,  we  must  begirbv 
supposing  all  our  first,  second,  and  third-class  passengers  thrown 
into  one  set  of  carriages,  and  we  shall  then  be  astonished  at  the 
ease   and  style  with   which  the  millions  travel  in  the  United 
fetates.     The  charge  for  the  distance  of  fifty-four  miles,  from 
lioston  to  Portsmouth,  was   li  dollar  each,  or  6s.  4d.  English 
which  was  just  half  what  we  had  paid  three  weeks  before  fo^ 
hrst-class    places   on    our  journey    from    London    to   Liverpool 
(2Z.  10s  for  210  miles),  the  speed  being  in  both  cases  the  same. 
Here  there  is  the  want  of  privacy  enjoyed  in  an  English  first- 
dass  carriage,  and  the  seats,  though  excellent,  are  less  luxurious 
Un  the  other  hand,  the  power  of  standing  upright  when  tired  of 
the  sitting  posture  is  not  to  be  despised,  especially  on  a  Ion- 
journey,  and  the  open  view  right  and  left  from  a  whole  line  of 
windows  IS  no  small  gain.      But  when  we  come  to  the  British 
second  and  third-class  vehicles,  cushionless,  dark,  and  if  it  happen 
to  rain,  sometimes  closed  up  with  wooden  shutters,  and  contrast 
them  with  the  cars  of  Massachusetts,  and  still  more  the  average 
appearance,  dress,  and  manners  of  the  inmates,  the  wide  differ- 
ence  IS  indeed  remarkable;  at  the  same  time,  the  price  which 
the  humblest   class  here  can  afford   to  pay  proves  how  much 
higher  must  be  the  standard  of  wages  than  with  us 

On  starting,  we  had  first  to  cross  the  harbor  of"  Boston  in  a 
large  terry-boat,  where,  to  economize  tii        '  - 


there 


ir  %vith 


msmumsmimimBm 


32 


PORTSMOUTH,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE. 


[Chap,  n 


refreshments,  so  that  you  may  breakfast ;  or,  if  you  please,  buy 
newspapers,  or  pamphlets,  or  novels.      We  then  flew  over  rails, 
supported  on  lon^'  lines  of  wooden  piles,  following  the  coast,  and 
having  often  the  sea  on  one  side,  and  fresh-water  lakes,  several 
miles   long,  or  salt  marshes,  on   the  other.     In    some    of  the 
marshes  we  saw  large  haycocks  on  piles,  waiting  till  the  winter, 
when,  the  mud  and  water  being  firmly  frozen,  the  crop  can  be 
carried  in.      We  werp  soon  at  Lynn,  a  village  of  shoemakers, 
exporting  shoes  to  distant  parts  of  the  Union;  and  next  went 
through  the  center  of  the  town  of  Salem,  partly  in  a  tunnel  in 
the  main  street ;  then  proceeded  to  Ipswich,  leaving  on  our  left 
Wenham  Lake,  and  seeing  from  the  road  the  wooden  houses  in 
which  great  stores  of  ice  are  preserved.     In  some  of  the  low 
grounds   I  saw  peat   cut,   and  laid  out  to  dry  for  fuel.      We 
crossed  the  river  Merrimack  near  its  mouth,  on  a  bridge  of  great 
length,  supported  by  piles,  and  then  entered  New  Hampshire, 
soon  coming  to  the  first  town  ofrthat  state,  called  Portsmouth, 
which  has  a  population  of  8000  souls,  and  was  once  the  resi- 
dence of  the  colonial  governor.     Here  I  made  a  short  stay,  pass- 
ing the  evening  at  the  house  of  Mr.  J.  L.  Hayes,  to  whom  wo 
had  letters  of  introduction,  where  we  found  a  gay  party  assem- 
bled, and  dancing. 

Next  morning  I  set  out  on  an  excursion  with  Mr.  Hayes,  to 
explore  the  geological  features  of  the  neighborhood,  which  agree 
with  those  of  the  eastern  coast  generally  throughout  Massachu- 
setts, and  a  great  part  of  Maine — a  low  region  of  granitic  rocks, 
overspread  with  heaps  of  sand  and  gravel,  or  with  clay,  and 
here  and  there  an  erratic  or  huge  block  cf  stone,  transported 
from  a  distance,  and  always  from  the  north.  Lakes  and  ponds 
numerous,  as  in  the  country  of  similar  geological  composition  in 
the  south  of  Norway  and  Sweden.  Here,  also,  as  in  Scandina- 
via, the  overlying  patches  of  clay  and  gravel  often  contain  marine 
fossil  shells  of  species  still  living  in  the  Arctic  Seas,  and  belong- 
ing to  the  genera  Saxicava,  Asiarte,  Cardium,  Nucula,  and 
others,  the  same  which  occur  in  what  we  call  the  northern  drift 
of  Ireland  and  Scotland.  Some  of  the  concretions  of  fine  clay, 
more  or  less  calcareous,  met  with  in  New  Hampshire,  in  this 


Chap.  II.J 


GEOLOGY. 


33 


"  drift'  on  the   Saco  river,  thirty  miles  to  the  north  of  Ports- 
mouth,  contam  the  entire  skeletons  of  a  fossil  fish  of  the  same 
species  as  one  now  hving  in  the  Northern  Seas,  called  the  cape- 
Ian  {Mallotm  villosus),  about  the  size  of  a  sprat,  and  sold  abun- 
dantly  in  the  London  markets,  salted  and  dried  like  herrinffs      I 
obtained  some  of  these  fossils,  whieh,  like  the  associated  shells, 
show  that  a  colder  climate  than  that  now  prevailing  in  this  re' 
gion  was  established  in  what  is  termed  «« the  glacial  period." 
Mr.  Hayes  took  me  to  Kittery,  and  other  localities,  where  these 
marine  orgamc  remains  abound  in  the  superficial  deposits.     Some 
of  the  shells  are  met  with  in  the  town  of  Pon.mouth  itself,  in 
digging  the  foundation  of  houses  on  the  south  bank  of  the  river 
risoataqua.     This  was  the  most  southern  spot  (lat.  43°  6'  N  \ 
to  which  I  yet  had  traced  the  fossil  fauna  of  the  boulder  period 
retaimng  here,  as  in  Canada,  its  peculiar  northern  characters 

species  ;  and  a  great  many  of  those  now  abounding  in  the  neigh- 
bonng  sea  being  entirely  absent.     It  is  only  farther  to  the  somh 
and  near  the  extreme  southern  limit  of  the  drift,  or  boulder  ckv 
as  at  Brooklyn,  in  Long  Island,  for  example,  that  a  Txture  Jf 

HoTes  r  rr:  f  .^'^"^  '^^^"  ^°  ^p^-^-  just  arsro 

E.  Forbes  has  detected,  m  the  drift  of  the  south  of  Ireland  thl 
meeting  of  a  Mediterranean  and  Arctic  fauna  ' 

Every  where  around  Portsmouth  I  observed  that  superficial 

tion  onnese  fossil  shells  of  J^^^iriHe  gLl^^^^^^^^^^ 
that,  at  times  comparatively  modem  in  the  earth's  historv   the 
arger  part  of  New  England  and  Canada  lay  for  ages  bTnel'h 
the  waters  of  the  sea.  Lake  Champlain  and  the  vflley  of  the 

island  *"T,  'r^^  ''^"  ^f  ^'  ^"^  *^«  ^^^  Mount'ains  ai 
sland.*     But  it  is  a  curious  fact  that  we  also  discover  along  this 

Bwamps  now  submerged  at  low  water,  containing  the  roots  and 
*  See  my  "Travel,  m  N.  America,  1841-2,"  vol.  ii.  p   i42 

B* 


34 


SUBMARINE  FOREST. 


[Chap.  11 


upright  stools  of  the  white  cedar  (^Cupressus  thyoides),  showing 
that  an  ancient  forest  must  once  have  extended  farther  seaward. 
One  of  these  swamps  we  passed  yesterday  at  Hampton,  on  the 
way  from  Boston  to  Portsmouth ;  and  Mr.  Hayes  gave  me  speci- 
mens of  the  submarine  wood  in  as  fresh  a  state  as  any  occurring 
a  few  yards  deep  in  a  British  peat-bog. 

That  some  of  these  repositories  of  buried  trees,  though  geolo- 
gically of  the  most  modern  date,  may  really  be  of  high  antiquity, 
considered  with  reference  to  the  history  cf  man,  I  have  no  doubt ; 
and  geologists  may,  by  repeated  observations,  ascertain  the  min- 
imum of  time  required  for  their  formation  previously  to  their  sub- 
mergence. Some  extensive  cedar-swamps,  for  example,  of  the 
same  class  occur  on  the  coast  near  Cape  May,  in  the  southern 
extremity  of  the  State  of  New  Jersey,  on  the  east  side  of  Dela- 
ware Bay,  filled  with  trees  to  an  unknown  depth  ;  and  it  is  a 
constant  business  to  probe  the  soft  mud  of  the  swamp  with  poles 
for  the  purpose  of  discovering  the  timber.  When  a  log  is  found, 
the  mud  is  cleared  off,  and  the  log  sawed  up  into  proper  lengths 
lor  shingles  or  boards.  The  stumps  of  trees,  from  four  to  five 
feet,  and  occasionally  six  feet  in  diameter,  are  found  standing 
with  their  roots  In  the  place  in  which  they  grew,  and  the  trunks 
of  aged  cedars  are  met  with  in  every  possible  position,  some  of 
them  lying  horizontally  under  the  roots  of  the  upright  stumps. 
Dr.  Bresley,  of  Dennis  Creek,  counted  1080  rings  of  armual 
growth  between  the  center  and  outside  of  a  large  stump  six  feet 
in  diameter,  and  under  it  lay  a  prostrate  tree,  which  had  fallen 
and  been  buried  before  the  tree  to  which  the  stump  belonged  first 
sprouted.  This  lower  trunk  was  five  hundred  years  old,  so  that 
upward  of  fifteen  centuries  were  thus  determined,  beyond  the 
shadow  of  a  doubt,  as  the  age  of  one  small  portion  of  a  bog,  the 
depth  of  which  is  as  yet  unknown. 

Mr.  Hayes  drove  me  in  his  carriage  through  woods  of  fir  on 
both  banks  of  the  Piscataqua,  where  the  ground  was  covered 
with  that  fragrant  shrub,  the  candleberry  {Myrica  cerifera),  the 
wax  of  which,  derived  from  its  shining  black  berries,  is  used  for 
making  candles.  The  odor  of  its  leaves  resembles  that  of  our 
bog-myrtle  (J^yrica  gale).     The  barberry,  also  {^Berberis  vul- 


Chap.  II.] 


WILD  PLANTS— SWALLOWS. 


I  I 

3: 


gam),  although  not  an  indigenous  plant,  is  very  abundant  and 
ornamental  m  the  woods  here.  I.  has  overrun,  in  modern  tL^s 
the  eastern  shores  of  New  England,  and  made  its  way  m»y 
m,  es  mland,  to  the  great  annoyance  of  the  agriculturists.  Soml 
naturahsts  wonder  how  it  can  spread  so  fast,  as  the  AmericT,^ 
birds  re.use,  hke  the  European  ones,  to  feed  on  its  red  berries 

„„  ,5    >.    Tl       .'  °""'°'  '^"''^'  """^  Soats  occasionally  browse 
on  th,s  shrub,  there  ,s  no  mystery  about  the  mode  of  its  migration 

Z\M  "^'^'rin  '™"  "'  '^'^'  '■'■""•  The  aromatif  shrub 
called  sweet  fern  (Ccnpt^ia  asplemfolia).  forms  nearly  as  large 
a  proportion  of  the  undergrowth  here  as  does  the  real  fern  (Pterin 
m  some  of  our  English  forests.  I  have  seen  this  part  of  nS 
America  laid  down  in  some  botanical  maps  a,  the  region  of  asters 
and  solidagos  ;  and  certainly  the  variety  and  abundaL  of  go  de" 
rods  and  asters  is  at  this  season  very  striking,  although  a  while 
everlasting  (G«a/aW)  ;,  almost  equally  conspicuous^  Amol 
other  shrubs,  I  saw  the  poison-ivy  (Rhm  radicam),  a  species  of 
sumach  growing  on  rocks  and  walls.     It  has  no  effect  on  soi^e 

others.     A  New  England  botanist  once  told  me  that,  by  wav 
of  experiment  he  rubbed  his  arm  with  the  leaves,  and  they  give 
■        tV  ••""f'"',™'"«"S.  ^hieh  was  long  in  subsiding.      ^^ 
,  V,  ,"  ^';. ""J'"^  ^P'-''™  "'  Portsmouth  were  some  of  the  smaller 
white-bodied  swallows  or  martins  (Hirundo  viHdis).  protecSi 
from  their  enemy,  the  larger  marlin  (ffi'^^rfo  ~^t 
having  small  holes  made  for  them  il.  flower-po^  wWeh '  the 
others  could  not  pass  through.     The  larger  kind,  or  houserart'n 
s  encouraged  every  where,  small  wooden  boxe    being  mrdefo 
them  on  roofs  „r  „n  the  tops  of  poles,  resembling  pigLXuses 
whu=h  may  often  be  seen  on  the  top  of  a  sign-pof,  ^Le  a  New 
England  mn.     They  are  useful  in  chasing  awav  birds  of  nre^ 

X  h^:rTfl^  "^*'  '  T  ''-  -^  ''-  °f  *-  atl^S 
a  large  hawk.     But  I  suspect  they  are  chiefly  favored  for  mere 

amusement  sake,  and  w-elcomed,  like  our  swallows  Is  the  me, 

gangers  of  spring,  on  their  annual  return  from  theluth      iTL" 

pi    sing  to  hear  them  chattering  with  each  other,  and  to  mark 

their  elegant  forms  and  bluish-black  plumage,  or  to  wateh  them 


36 


GLACIAL  GROOVES. 


[Chaf.  a 


on  the  wing,  floating  gently  in  the  air,  or  darting  rapidly  after 
insects.  Thousands  of  these  birds,  with  their  young,  died  in 
their  nests  in  the  spring  of  183G,  during  a  storm  of  cold  rain, 
which  lasted  two  weeks,  and  destroyed  the  insects  throughout 
the  states  of  New  York  and  New  England.  The  smaller  species 
{Himndo  viridis)  then  regained  possession  of  their  old  haunts, 
occupying  the  deserted  houses  of  the  more  powerful  species,  which, 
like  the  house-sparrow  in  Europe,  has  followed  the  residence  of 
man. 

The  sun  was  very  powerful  at  noon  ;  but  the  severity  of  tho 
cold  here  in  winter  is  so  great,  that  a  singular  efl:ect  is  produced 
in  the  Piscataqua  when  the  thermometer  sinks  to  15°  below  zero. 
The  tide  pours  into  the  estuary  a  large  body  of  salt  water  par- 
taking of  the  warmer  temperature  of  .the  gulf  stream,  and  this 
water,  coming  into  the  colder  atmosphere,  smokes  like  a  thermal 
spring,  giving  rise  to  dense  fogs. 

I  had  been  desirous  of  making  the  acquaintance  of  Mr.  Hayes, 
in  consequence  of  having  read,  before  I  left  England,  an  excellent 
paper  pubhshed  by  him  in  the  Boston  Journal  of  Natural  History, 
for  1844,  on  the  Antarctic  Icebergs,  considered  as  explanatory 
of  the  transportation  of  rocky  masses,  and  of  those  pohshed  rocks 
and  glacial  grooves  and  striae  before  alluded  to.  He  had  derived 
his  information  from  experienced  men  engaged  in  the  southern 
whale  fisheries,  principally  merchants  of  New  Bedford,  Massa- 
chusetts, and  Stonington,  Rhode  Island.  On  looking  over  his 
original  MS.  notes,  I  found  he  had  omitted  to  print  some  parti- 
culars of  the  evidence,  which  I  consider  of  no  small  interest  ap 
throwing  light  on  a  class  of  geological  appearances  hitherto 
thought  least  reconcilable  with  the  ordinary  course  of  nature. 
As  to  the  carriage  of  huge  fragments  of  rock  for  many  hundreds 
of  miles,  from  one  region  to  another,  such  transportation  was 
formerly  appealed  to  by  writers  now  living  as  among  the  marvels 
of  the  olden  time,  resembling  the  feats  of  the  fabulous  ages,  and 
as  much  transcending  the  powers  of  nature  in  these  degenerate 
days,  as  the  stone  hurled  by  Hector  against  the  Grecian  gate 
exceeded  in  weight  and  size  what  could  now  be  raised  from  the 
ground  by  two  of  the  strongest  of  living  men  {oloi  vvv  fipoToi). 


Ohap.  II.] 


ORGANIC  REMAINS  IN  ICK. 


S7 


But  after  reading  the  accounts  given  by  Sir  James  Ross  and  Captain 
Wilkes,  of  the  transfer  of  erratics  by  ice,  from  one  point  to  another 
of  the  southern  seas,  these  traveled  boulders  begin  to  be  regarded 
quite  as  vulj?ar  phenomena,  or  matters  of  every-day  occurrence. 

There  still  remain,  however,  among  the  wonders  of  the  polar 
regions,  some  geological  monuments  which  appear  sufficiently 
anomalous  when  we  seek  to  explain  them  by  modern  analogies. 
I  refer  to  the  preservation  in  ice  of  the  carcasses  of  extinct  species 
of  quadrupeds  in  Siberia ;  not  only  the  rhinoceros  originally  dis- 
covered, with  part  of  its  flesh,  by  Pallas,  and  the  mammoth 
afterward  met  with  on  the  Lena  by  Adams,  but  still  more 
recently  the  elephant  dug  up  by  Middendorf,  September,  1846, 
which  retained  even  the  bulb  of  the  eye  in  a  perfect  state,  and 
which  is  now  to  be  seen  in  the  museum  at  Moscow.* 

In  part  of  the  unpublished  evidence  collected  by  Mr.  Hayes, 
are  statements  which  may  perhaps  aid  us  in  elucidating  this  ob^ 
scure  subject ;  at  all  events  they  are  not  undeserving  of  notice, 
were  it  only  to  prove  that  nature  is  still  at  work  in  the  icy  regions 
enveloping  a  store  of  organic  bodies  in  ice,  which,  after  a  series 
of  geographical  and  climatal  changes,  and  the  extermination  of 
some  of  the  existing  cetacea,  might  strike  the  investigator  at  some 
remote  period  of  the  future  as  being  fully  as  marvelous  as  any 
monuments  of  the  past  hitherto  discovered.     The  first  extract, 
which  I  make,  with  Mr.  Hayes'  permission,  is  from  the  evidence 
of  Captam  Benjamin  Pendleton,  of  Stonington,  who,  from  his 
knowledge  of  the  South  Shetland  fisheries,  was  chosen  by  the 
American  government  to  accompany  the  late  exploring  expedition  to 
the  Antarctic  seas.     He  had  cruised  in  1820  and  1822  for  600 
miles  along  the  lofty  ice  cliffs  bounding  the  great  southern  conti- 
nent.    He  says,  that  in  1 82 1 ,  when  he  wished  to  bury  a  seaman 
m  one  of  the  South  Shetland  islands,  several  partier  of  twelve 
men  each,  were  set  to  dig  a  grave  in  the  blue  sand  and  gravel  • 
but  after  penetrating  in  nearly  a  hundred  places  through  six  or 
eight  inches  of  sand,  they  came  down  every  where  upon  solid 
blue  ice.     At  last  he  determined  to  have  a  hole  cut  in  the  ice, 
ot  which  the  island  principally  consisted,  and  the  body  of  the  man 
*  See  "  Principles  of  Geology,"  by  the  Author,  7th  ed.  1847,  p.  83. 


88 


WHALE  DISCOVERED  IN  AN  ICEBEUG. 


______^  [Chap.  II 

was  placed  in  it      In  1822,  Capi^^^^^~i^^^^,^^^ 

wr„fh:;:;rbu':r ''- '''''-'  -' '-'  ^-^-^^  ^-^^  - 

So  far  this  narrative  may  be  said  merely  to  confirm  and  to 
bear  out  another  published  by  Captain  Kendall,  of  ou    navy    n 

erattlhrt\tT7^^^^^^  '°"""^'  ''''  (PP-  '''  '')'  -here  1^: 
relates  that  the  soil  of  Deception  Island,  one  of  the  South  Shet- 

lands,  consists  of  ice  and  volcanic  ashes  interstratified    and  he 
discovered  there  the  body  of  a  foreign  sailor,  which  LdW 

that  as  fh^  T'";  commenting  on  that  fact,  has  observed. 

0-^    and  63    S.,  it  ,s  nearer  the  equator  by  about  100  miles  than 

But  Captain  Pendleton  goes  on  to  relate,  that  while  he  wa» 

8"n?r?r.'''r'  ""  '"'''^''  ^"^  ''"'-hek  from  a  ff  one" 
800  feet  h,gh.     The  pieee  whieh  fell  off  was  from  60  to  100  Z 

about  280  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  part  of  a  whale  was 
seen  remaining  nelosed  in  the  ice-clis;  tke  head  and  ^.terio^ 
parts  havmg  broken  off  about  the  flippers  and  fallen  dowTw"th 

all  tr.  Suir'hlr-..  ^"^  '^''"^  -"'  -•"'*  'he  whatrt 
call  the  "Sulphur-bottom,"  resembhng  the  fin-back      Cant.in 

Pendle^n  eontrived  to  get  out  the  porL  which  had  falK 

obtamed  from  .t  eight  or  ten  barrels  of  oil.     The  birds  fo  a' W 

hme  fed  upon  the  entrails.     This  fact  was  known  to  cLtalu 

Beek  and  others.     Captain  William  P.ndleton,  another  whlfe" 

of  expenenee  also  mforms  Mr.  Hayes,  that  skeletons  of  whales 

them   aooTetT^  V""',  ^°"*  ^'>'"'""'''  -hen  he  visfted 
them,  300  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.     Thomas  A„\,  nl«„ 

rrtr^^'^l  ^'"'"  '^'^'''  '•'^  'keleten  and  somtof  th 
soft  parts  of  a  whale  many  feet  above  the  reach  of  the  hi.hest 
tides.     Captain  William  Beck,  master  of  a  whalin.  ship    hts 
«en  whaW  bones  and  carcasses  sixty  or  seventy  feet  ahl  Z 
«ea-level,  and  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  water. 
*  Darwin's  Journal,  2d  ed,  p.  249. 


Chap.  II.] 


ICEBKRGS. 


out  the  body 
;tly  fresh  as 

firm  and  to 
ur  navy,  in 
),  where  he 
South  Shet- 
ied,  and  he 
h  had  long 
rfectly  pre- 
s  observed, 
etween  lat. 
miles  than 
Jeros  of  Si- 

ile  he  was 
chff  of  ice 
;o  100  feet 
levation  of 
whale  was 
d  anterior 
Jown  with 
le  whalers 
Captain 
fallen,  and 

for  a  loner 
0  Captain 
er  whaler 
of  whales 
be  visited 

Ash  also 
ne  of  the 
le  highest 
ship,  has 
above  the 


To  explain  how  the  bodies  and  skeletons  of  these  inhabitants 
of  the  deep,  whether  found  entombed  or  not  in  ic  were  carried 
up  to  considerable  heights  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  appeared  to 
me  at  first  more  difficult  than  to  account  for  their  having  been 
included  in  solid  ice.  A  few  months  after  my  visit  to  Ports- 
mouth I  saw  Captain  Wilkes,  of  the  United  States  Exploring 
Expedition,  and  called  his  attention  to  the  problem.  He 
remarked,  that  the  open  sea  sometimes  freezes  round  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  so  that  ships  can  not  approach  within  100  miles 
of  the  shore.  In  like  manner,  in  Antarctic  regions,  the  ocean 
often  freezes  over  the  base  of  a  cliff  formed  of  barrier  ice.  In 
all  these  cases,  the  sheet  of  ice,  however  continuous,  does  not 
adhere  to  the  land  or  the  barrier,  because  the  rise  and  fall  of  the 
tide,  however  slight,  causes  a  rent,  permitting  the  whole  mass  to 
move  up  and  down.  The  snow,  drifting  off  the  land  in  vast 
quantities  during  winter,  falls  over  the  clifis  upon  the  frozen 
surface  of  the  sea,  until  its  weight  is  such  that  it  causes  the 
whole  mass  to  sink  ;  and  unless  the  winds  and  currents  happen 
to  float  it  off,  it  may  go  on  subsiding  till  it  acquires  a  great 
thickness,  and  may  at  last  touch  the  bottom.  Before  this  hap- 
pens, however,  it  usually  gets  adrift,  and,  before  it  has  done 
melting,  tumbles  over  or  capsizes  more  than  once. 

On  my  return  to  England,  in  1846,  I  described  the  same 
phenomena  to  my  friend  Dr.  Joseph  Hooker,  and  subsequently 
to  Sir  James  Ross,  and  they  both  of  them,  without  hearing 
Captain  Wilkes's  theory,  suggested  the  same  explanation,  having 
observed  that  a  great  sheet  of  ice  had  formed  in  the  sea  by  the 
freezing  of  melted  snow  on  the  southern  or  polar  side  of  every 
Antarctic  island.  If  the  carcass  of  a  dead  whale  be  thrown  up 
on  this  ice,  it  must  soon  be  buried  under  other  snow  drifted  from 
the  land,  and  will  at  length  be  inclosed  in  the  lower  part  of  an 
iceberg,  formed  in  the  manner  before  described.  The  frequent 
overturning  or  reversal  of  position  of  these  great  masses,  arises 
from  the  temperature  of  the  water  at  the  depth  of  1000  or  1500 
feet,  to  which  they  frequently  descend,  being  much  warmer  than 
the  incumbent  air  or  more  superficial  water.  When  the  inferior 
or  submerged  portions  melt,  the  center  of  gravity  is  soon  changed  • 


40 


ICEBERGS. 


[0H4P.  II. 


and  a  magnificent  example  is  recorded  by  Sir  James  Roes  of  the 

\  h.  .      ''^  ^""^  previously  been  the  bottom  came  un 

and  rose  100  feet  above  the  surface  of  the  sea,  and  the  who L  of 
the  new  top  and  eastern  side  were  seen  to  be  covered  w.Th  ear'h 
and  stones.     A  party  landed  on  it,  and  a  slicrht  xockir  mot  on 

The  W™'  r  T  ''P'^^°  °f  ^"^Parting  to  such  large  iceb  rg^; 
The  lower  down  the  carcass  of  the  whale  is  buried  in  the  ori^bal 
berg,  the  higher  up  will  it  be  raised  above  the  level  of  the  sea 
when  the  same  berg  has  turned  over. 

*  Sir  J.  Ross's  Voyage  to  Southern  Seas,  vol.  i.  pp.  195,  igg. 


CHAPTER  III. 


Portlarel  sn  Maine. — Kennebco  River. — Timber  Trade. — Fossil  Shells  at 
Gardiner. — Augusta,  the  Capital  of  Maine. — Legal  Prol'ession":  Advo- 
cates and  Attorneys. — Equality  of  Sects. — Religious  Toleration. — Cal- 
vinistic  Theology. — Day  of  Doom. 

Sept.  25,  1845. — Here  we  are  at  mid-day  flying  along  at 
the  rate  of  twenty-five  and  occasionally  thirty  miles  an  hour,  on 
our  way  to  Portland,  the  chief  city  of  Maine.  It  was  only  yes- 
terday afternoon  that  we  loft  Boston,  and  in  less  than  three 
hours  we  performed  what  would  have  heen  formerly  reckoned  a 
good  day's  journey  of  forty-five  miles,  had  seen  at  Portsmouth 
some  collections  of  natural  history,  and  afterward  gone  to  a  ball. 
In  the  forenoon  of  this  day  I  have  made  geological  excursions  on 
both  banks  of  the  Piscataqua,  and  before  dark  shall  have  sailed 
far  up  the  Kennebec.  It  is  an  agreeable  novelty  to  a  naturalist 
to  combine  the  speed  of  a  railway  and  the  luxury  of  good  inns 
with  the  sight  of  the  native  forest — the  advantages  of  civilization 
with  the  beauty  of  unreclaimed  nature — no  hedges,  few  plowed 
fields,  the  wild  plants,  trees,  birds,  and  animals  undisturbed. 

Cheap  as  are  the  fares,  these  railroads,  I  am  told,  yield  high 
profits,  because  the  land  through  which  they  run  costs  nothing. 
When  we  had  traversed  a  distance  of  about  sixty  miles,  the  cars 
ghded  along  some  rails  over  the  wharf  at  Portland,  and  we  almost 
stepped  from  our  seats  on  to  the  deck  of  the  Huntress  steamer, 
which  was  ready  to  convey  us  to  the  mouth  of  the  Kennebec  river. 

After  threading  a  cluster  of  rocky  islands  adorned  with  fir  and 
birch  in  the  beautiful  Bay  of  Casco,  we  came  to  the  Sound,  and 
for  a  short  space  were  in  the  open  sea,,  with  no  view  but  that  of 
a  distant  coast.  As  there  was  nothing  to  see,  we  were  glad  to 
be  invited  to  dinner,  and  were  conducted  to  the  gentlemen's 
cabin,  a  sort  of  sunk  story,  to  which  the  ladies,  or  the  women  of 
every  degree,  M'ere,  according  to  the  usual  etiquette,  taken  down 
first,  and  carefully  seated  at  the  table  by  the  captain,  before  the 


mi 


42 


NEW  ENGLAND  TRAVELING. 


[Ohap.  Ill 


gentlemen  were   admitted.      Above   this   apartment   where   we 
dined   was   the  ladies'  cabin,   and  above  that  the  upper  deck 
where  we  sat  to  enjoy  the  prospect  as  we  approached  the  mouth 
of    he  Kennebec.      In  the  forepart  of  the  vessel,  on  this  upper 
deck,  IS  a  small  room,  having  windows  on  all  sides,  where  the 
man  at  the  helm  is  stationed  ;  not  at  the  stern,  as  in  our  boats, 
which  IS  considered  by  the  Americans  as  a  great  improvement 
on  the  old  system,  as  the  steersman's  view  can  not  be  intercepted 
and  the  passengers  are  never  requested  to  step  on  one  side  to 
enable  him  to  see  his  way.     Directions  to  the  engineer,  instead 
ot  being  transmitted  by  voice  through  an  intermediate  messenger 
are  given  directly  by  one  or  more  loud  strokes  on  a  bell      The 
fuel  used  IS  anthracite,  the  absence  of  oxygen  being  compensated 
by  a  strong  current  of  air  kept  up  by  what  resembles  a  winnow- 
ing-machme,  and  does  the  work  of  a  pair  of  bellows 

AJter  sailing  up  the  Kennebec  about  fifteen  miles  we  came  to 
Bath   a  town  of  5000  souls,  chiefly  engaged  in  ship-building,  a 
branch  of  industry  m  which  the  State  of  Maine  ranks  first  in 
the  Union ;  the  materials  consisting  of  white  oak  and  pine,  the 
growth  of  native  forests.     Large  logs  of  timber  squared,  and 
each  marked  with  the  owner's  name,  are  often  cast  into   the 
river,  sometimes  far  above  Augusta,  and  come  floating  down  100 
miles  to  this  place.      In  winter  many  of  them  get  frozen  into  the 
ice  and  imprisoned  for  six  or  seven  months,  until  the  late  sprinff 
releases  them,  and  then  not  a  few  of  them  are  carried  far  out 
mto  the  Atlantic,  where  they  have  been  picked  up,  with  the 
owner's  name  still  telling  the  place  of  their  origin.      The  water 
IS  salt  as  far  as  Bath,  above  which  it  is  fresh  and  freezes  over  so 
as  to  allow  sleighs  and  skaters  to  cross  it  in  winter,  although  the 
influence  of  the  tide  extends  as  far  up  as  Augusta,  about  forty 
miles  above  Bath.     I  am  informed  that  the  whole  body  of  the 
»ce  rises  and  falls,  cracking  along  the  edges  where  it  is  weakest 
Over  the  fissures  planks  are  placed  to  serve  as  a  bridge,  or  snow 
IS  thrown  m,  which  freezes,  and  affords  a  passage  to  the  central 
•ce.      The  Kennebec,  besides  being  enlivened   by  the    "  lumber 
trade,"  is  at  this  season  whitened  with  the  sails  of  vessels  laden 
with  hay,  which  has  been  compressed  into  small  bulk  bv  the 


Chap.  III.] 


THE  KKNNEBEC. 


43 


power  of  steam.  Many  of  these  merchantmen  are  destined  for 
New  York,  where  the  unusual  heat  and  drought  of  the  summer 
has  caused  a  scanty  crop  of  grass,  but  hundreds  are  bound  to  the 
distant  ports  of  Mobile  and  New  Orleans ;  so  that  the  horses  of 
Alabama  and  Louisiana  are  made  to  graze  on  the  sweet  pastures 
of  Maine,  instead  of  the  coarser  and  ranker  herbage  of  the  south- 
ern prairies.  In  a  few  months  theie  northern-built  ships  will 
bring  back  bales  of  cotton  for  factories  newly  established  by  Bos- 
ton capitalists,  and  worked  on  this  river  both  by  water  power 
and  steam.  Such  are  the  happy  consequences  of  the  annexation 
of  Louisiana  to  the  United  States.  But  fc  that  event,  the  fa- 
vorite theories  of  political  economy  in  New  England,  and  the  duty 
of  prov,ecting  native  industry,  would  have  interposed  many  a 
custom-house  and  high  tariff  between  Maine  and  the  valley  of 
the  Mississippi. 

As  we  passed  Bath  a  large  eagle,  with  black  wings  and  a 
white  body,  was  seen  soaring  over  our  heads ;  and,  a  few  miles 
above,  where  the  salt  and  fresh  water  meet,  seals  were  seen 
sporting  close  to  the  steamer.  The  Kennebec  is  said  to  abound 
in  salmon.  We  admired  the  great  variety  of  trees  on  its  banks  ; 
two  kinds  of  birch  with  larger  leaves  than  our  British  species, 
several  oaks  and  pines,  the  hemlock  with  foliage  like  a  yew-tree, 
and  the  silver-fir,  and  two  species  of  maple,  the  sugar  or  rock 
maple  (^Acer  saccJmrinum),  and  the  white  (^.  da&ycarjmm), 
both  of  which  yield  sugar.  To  these  two  trees  the  beauty  and 
brilHancy  of  the  autumnal  tints  of  the  American  forests  are  due, 
the  rock  maple  turning  red,  purple  and  scarlet,  and  the  white, 
first  yellow,  and  then  red! 

We  were  conveyed  in  the  Huntress  to  Gardiner,  the  head  of 
steam- boat  navigation  here,  sixty-eight  miles  distant  from  Port- 
land, where  we  visited  the  country  house  of  Mr.  Gardiner,  whose 
family  gave  its  name  to  the  settlement.  It  is  built  in  the  style 
of  an  EngUsh  country  seat,  and  surrounded  by  a  park.  At  Mr. 
Allen's  I  examined,  with  much  interest,  a  collection  of  fossil 
shells  and  Crustacea,  made  by  Mrs.  Allen  from  the  drift  or  "  gla- 
cial" deposits  of  the  same  age  as  those  of  Portsmouth,  already 

I  recognized  the  tooth  of  a 


described . 


Arnnnor    o+lipr    rpmnina 
i — _j     _  .i —     .«,.. 1., 


14 


FOSSIL  REMAINS. 


[Chai-  III 


walrus   similar  to  one  procured  by  me  in  Martha's  Vineyard  # 
and  other  teeth,  since  determined  for  me  by  Professor  Owen  as 
belonging  to  the  buffalo  or  American  bison.      These  are   I  be- 
lieve, the  first  examples  of  land  quadrupeds  discovered  in  beds  of 
this  age  m  the  United  States.      The  accompanying  shells  consist- 
ed  of  the  common  mussel  {Mytilus  editlis),  Saxciava  rugo,a, 
Mya  arewana,  Pecten  Ida?idicus,  and  species  of  the  genera 
Astarte,  Nucula,  Sec.     The  horizontal  beds  of  clay  and  sand 
which  contain   these  remains  of  northern  species,  and  which 
imply  that  the  whole  region  was  beneath  the  sea  at  no  distant 
period,  impart  to  the  scenery  of  the  country  bordering  the  Kenne- 
bec Its  leading  features.      The  deposit  of  clay  and  sand  is  170 
leet  uiick  m  some  places,  and  numerous  valleys  70  feet  deep  are 
hollowed  out  of  it  by  every  small  stream.     At  Augusta  I  saw 
this  modern  tertiary  formation,  100  feet  thick,  resting  on  a  led-e 
of  mica  schist,  the  shells  being  easily  obtained  from  an  under- 
mined  cliff  of  clay.      Tn  some  places,  as  at  Gardiner,  conical  hil- 
locks, chiefly  of  gravel,  about  fifty  feet  high,  and  compared  here, 
on  account  of  the  regularity  of  their  form,  to  Indian  mounds, 
stand  isolated  near  the  river.     I  conceive  them  to  owe  their 
shape  to  what  the  geologists  term  «« denudation,"  or  the  action 
of  waves  and  currents,  which,  as  the  country  was  rising  gradu- 
ally out  of  the  sea,  removed  the  surrounding  softer  clay  and  left 
these  masses  undestroyed.      They  would  offer  resistance  to  the 
torce  of  moving  water  by  the  great  weight  and  size  of  their  com- 
ponent materials ;    for  in  them  we  find  not   only  pebbles,  but 
many  large  boulders  of  granite  and  other  rocks. 

Mr.  Allen  drove  us  in  his  carriage  to  Augusta,  six  miles  from 
Gardiner,  and  200  miles  N.E.  of  Boston,  where  we  visited  the 
btate  House,  handsomely  built  in  the  Grecian  style,  with  a  por- 
tico  and  large  columns,  the  stone  used  being  the  white  granite  of 
th-s  country.  The  rooms  for  the  two  houses  of  the  legislature 
are  very  convenient.  I  was  shown  the  library  by  the  governor, 
who  called  my  attention  to  some  books  and  maps  on  geologj^  and 
talked  ot  a  plan  for  resuming  the  geological  survey  of  the  State 
not  yet  completed.  ' 

*  See  "  Travels,"  vol.  i.  p.  256. 


Chap.  III.] 


LEGAL  PROFESSION. 


48 


Sept.  27. — Ueturued  by  the  Huntress  steamer  to  Portland, 
after  sailing  at  the  rate  of  fourteen  miles  an  hour.  On  board 
were  some  lawyers,  to  one  of  whom,  a  judge  in  the  State  of 
Maine,  Mr.  Gardiner  had  introduced  me.  The  profession  of  the 
law  is,  of  all  others  in  the  United  States,  that  which  attracts  to 
it  the  greatest  number  of  able  and  highly  educated  men,  jiot  only 
lor  its  own  sake,  but  because  it  is  a  great  school  for  the  training 
up  of  politicians.  The  competition  of  so  many  practitioners 
cheapens  fees,  and,  although  this  is  said  to  promote  litigation,  it 
has  at  least  the  great  advantage  of  placing  the  poor  man  on  a 
more  equal  footing  with  the  rich,  as  none  but  the  latter  can 
attempt  to  assert  their  rights  in  countries  where  the  cost  of  a 
successful  law-suit  may  be  ruinous.  Practically,  there  is  much 
the  same  subdivision  of  labor  in  the  legal  profession  here  as  in 
England ;  for  a  maxi  of  eminence  enters  into  partnership  with 
some  one  or  more  of  the  younger  or  less  talented  lawyers,  who 
play  the  part  assigned  with  us  to  junior  counsel  and  attorney*. 
There  are,  however,  no  two  grades  here  corresponding  to  barris- 
ter and  attorney,  from  the  inferior  of  which  alone  practitioners 
can  pass  in  the  regular  course  of  promotion  to  the  higher.  Every 
lawyer  in  the  United  States  may  plead  in  court,  and 'address  a 
jury  ;  and,  if  he  is  successful,  may  be  raised  to  the  bench  :  but 
he  must  quaUfy  as  counselor,  in  order  to  be  entitled  to  plead  in 
the  Supreme  Courts,  where  cases  are  heard  involving  points  at 
issue  between  the  tribimals  of  independent  states.  The  line 
drawn  between  barrister  and  attorney  in  Great  Britain,  which 
never  existed  even  in  colonial  times  in  Massachusetts,  could  only 
be  tolerated  in  a  country  where  the  aristocratic  element  is  ex- 
ceedingly predominant.  In  the  English  Church,  where  seats  in 
the  House  of  Lords  are  held  by  the  bishops,  we  see  how  the  rank 
of  a  whole  profession  may  be  elevated  by  making  high  distinc- 
tions conferred  only  on  a  few,  open  to  all.  That,  in  like  man- 
ner, the  highest  honors  of  the  bar  and  bench  might  be  open 
without  detriment  to  the  most  numerous  class  of  legal  practition- 
ers in  Great  Britain,  seems  to  be  proved  by  the  fact,  that  occa- 
sionally some  attorneys  of  talent,  by  quitting  their  original  line 
of  practice  and  starting  anew,  can  attain,  like  the  present  Chief 


46 


EQUALITY  OF  SECTS. 


[Chap.  IIL 


Portland,  with   15.000  inhabitants,  is  the  principal  citv  of 


Chap,  III.] 


RELIGIOUS  TOLERATIOxN. 


47 


On  Sunday  we  accompanied  the  family  of  a  lawyer,  to  whom 
we  had  brought  letters,  to  a  Unitarian  church.  There  was 
nothing  doctrinal  in  the  sermon,  and,  among  other  indications  of 
the  altered  and  softened  feelings  of  the  sects  which  have  sprung 
from  the  old  Puritar.  stock,  I  remarked  a  gilt  cross  placed  over 
the  altar.  The  orficiating  minister  told  me  that  this  step  had 
been  taken  with  the  consent  of  the  congregation,  though  not  with- 
out the  opposition  of  some  of  his  elders.  The  early  Puritans  re- 
garded this  symbol  as  they  did  pictures  and  images,  as  the  badges 
of  superstition,  the  relics  of  the  idolatrous  religion  so  lately  re- 
nounced by  them ;  and  it  is  curious  to  read,  in  the  annals  of  the 
first  colonists  at  Salem,  hoW;  in  1634,  the  followers  of  Roger 
Williams,  the  Brownist,  went  so  far  as  to  cut  that  "  popish  em- 
blem," the  red  cross,  out  of  the  royal  standard,  as  one  which  the 
train  bands  ought  no  longer  to  follow.* 

During  my  first  visit  to  the  New  England  States,  I  was 
greatly  at  a  loss  to  comprehend  by  what  means  so  large  a  ^oTp- 
ulation  had  been  brought  to  unite  great  earnestness  of  religious 
feeling  with  so  much  real  toleration.  In  seeking  for  the  cause,  wo 
must  go  farther  back  than  the  common  schools,  or  at  least  the 
•present  improved  state  of  popular  education  ;  for  we  are  still  met 
with  the  question,  How  could  such  schools  be  maintained  by  the 
state,  or  by  compulsory  assessments,  on  so  liberal  a  footing,  in 
spite  of  the  fanaticism  and  sectarian  prejudices  of  the  vulgar  ? 
When  we  call  to  mind  the  religious  enthusiasm  of  the  early  Pu- 
ritans, and  how  at  first  they  merely  exchanged  a  servile  obedience 
to  tradition,  and  the  authority  of  the  Church,  for  an  equally  blind 
scripturalism,  or  implicit  faith  in  the  letter  of  every  part  of  the 
Bible,  acting  as  if  they  believed  that  God,  by  some  miraculous 
process,  had  dictated  all  the  Hebrew  words  of  the  Old,  and  all 
the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament ;  nay,  the  illiterate  among 
them  cherishing  the  same  superstitious  veneration  lor  every  sylla- 
ble of  the  English  translation — how  these  religionists,  who  did 
not  hesitate  to  condemn  several  citizens  to  be  publicly  whipped 
for  denying  that  the  Jewish  code  was  obhgatory  on  Christians  as 
a  rule  of  life,  and  who  were  fully  persuaded  that  they  alone  were  the 
*  Graham's  History  of  United  States,  vol.  i.  p.  227. 


48 


CALVINISTIO  THEOLOGY. 


[Chap.  ^U. 


chosen  people  of  God,  should  bequeath  to  their  immediate  posterity 
6uch  a  philosophical  spirit  as  must  precede  the  organization  by  the 
whole  people  of  a  system  of  secular  education  acceptable  to  all, 
and  accompanied  by  the  social  and  political  equality  of  religious 

sects  such  as  no  other  civilized  community  has  yet  achieved 

this  certainly  is  a  problem  well  worthy  of  the  study  of  every 
reflecting  mind.  To  attribute  this  national  characteristic  to  the 
voluntary  system,  would  ':.■»  an  aiiaclironism,  as  that  is  of  com- 
paratively modern  date  •  jsr  England;  besides  that  tho  de- 
pendence of  the  ministert  their  flocks,  by  transferring  ecclf  si- 
astical  power  to  the  multitude,  only  gives  to  their  bigotry,  if  they 
be  ignorant,  a  more  dangerous  sway.  So,  also,  of  universal  suf- 
frage ;  by  investing  the  million  with  political  power,  it  renders 
the  average  amount  of  their  enlightenment  the  measure  of  the 
liberty  enjoyed  by  those  who  entertain  religious  opinions  disap- 
proved of  by  the  majority.  Of  the  natural  effects  of  such  power, 
and  the  homage  paid  to  it  by  the  higher  classes,  even  where  the 
political  institutions  are  only  partially  democratic,  we  have 
abundant  exemplification  in  Europe,  w^here  the  educated  of  the 
laity  nd  clergy,  in  spite  of  their  comparative  independence  of 
the  popular  will,  defer  outwardly  to  many  theological  notions  of 
the  vulgar  with  which  they  have  often  no  real  sympathy. 

To  account  for  the  toleration  prevailing  in  New  England  and 
the  states  chiefly  peopled  from  thence,  we  must  refer  to  a  com- 
bination of  many  favorable  circumstances,  some  of  them  of  ancient 
date,  and  derived  from  the  times  of  the  first  Puritan  settlers.    To 
these  I  shall  have  many  opportunities  of  alluding  in  the  sequel ; 
but  I  shall  mention  now  a  more  modern  cause,  the  effect  of  which 
was  brought  vividly  before  my  mind,  in  conversations  with  sev- 
eral lawyers   of  Maine,  New  Hampshire,  and   Massachusetts, 
whom  I  fell  in  with  on  this  tour.     I  mean  the  reaction  against 
the  extreme  Calvinism  of  the  church  first  established  in  this  part 
of  America,  a  movement  which  has  had  a  powerful  tendency  to 
subdue  and  mitigate  sectarian  bitterness.      In  order  to  give  mo 
some  idea  of  the  length  to  which  the  old  Calvinistic  doctrines 
were  mstilled  into  the  infant  mind,  one  of  my  companions  pre- 
sented  me  with  a  curious  poem,  called  the  "Day  of  Doom," 


6'HAP.  III.] 


DAY  OF  DOOM. 


49 


formerly  used  &»  a  school  book  in  New  England,  and  which 
elderly  persons  known  to  him  had  been  required,  some  seventy 
years  ago,  to  get  by  rote  as  children.  This  task  must  have  occu- 
pied no  small  portion  of  their  time,  as  this  string  of  doggrel 
rhymes  makes  up  no  less  than  224  stanzas  of  eight  lines  each. 
They  were  written  by  Michael  Wigglesworth,  A.M.,  teacher  of 
the  church  of  Maiden,  New  England,  and  profess  to  give  a  poet- 
ical description  of  the  Last  Judgment.  A  great  array  of  Scrip- 
ture texts,  from  the  Old  and  New  Testament,  is  cited  throughout 
in  the  margin  as  warranty  for  the  orthodoxy  of  every  dogma. 

Were  such  a  composition  now  submitted  to  any  committee  of 
school  managers  or  teachers  in  New  England,  they  would  not 
only  reject  it,  but  the  most  orthodox  among  thern  would  shrewdly 
suspect  it  to  be  a  «'  weak  invention  of  the  enemy,"  designed  to 
caricature,  or  give  undue  prominence  to,  precisely  those  tenets  of 
the  dominant  Calvinism  which  the  moderate  party  object  to,  as 
outraging  human  reason  and  as  derogatory  to  the  moral  attri- 
butes of  the  Supreme  Being.  Such,  however,  were  not  the  feel- 
ings of  the  celebrated  Cotton  Mather,  in  the  year  1705,  when  he 
preached  a  funeral  sermon  on  the  author,  which  I  find  prefixed 
to  my  copy  of  the  sixth  edition,  printed  in  1715.  On  this  occa- 
sion he  not  only  eulogizes  Wigglesworth,  but  affirms  that  the 
poem  itself  contains  "  plain  truths  drest  up  in  a  plain  meter ;" 
and  further  prophesies,  that  "  as  the  '  Day  of  Doom'  had  been 
often  reprinted  in  both  Englands,  it  will  last  till  the  Day  itself 
shall  arrive."  Some  extracts  from  this  document  will  aid  the 
reader  to  estimate  the  wonderful  revolution  in  popular  opinion 
brought  about  in  one  or  two  generations,  by  which  the  harsher 
and  sterner  features  of  the  old  Calvinistic  creed  have  been  nearly 
eradicated.  Its  professors,  indeed,  may  still  contend  as  stoutly 
as  ever  for  the  old  formularies  of  their  hereditary  faith,  as  they 
might  fight  for  any  other  party  banner ;  but  their  fanatical  de- 
votion to  its  dogmas,  and  their  contempt  for  a'l  other  Christian 
churches,  has  happily  softened  down  or  disappeared. 

The  poem  opens  with  the  arraignment  of  all  "  the  quick  and 
dead,"  who  are  sununoned  before  the  throne  of  God,  and,  having 
each  pleaded  at  the  bar,  are  answered  by  their  Judge.     Some 
VOL.  I C 


so 


"DAY  OF  DOOM. 


[Chap.  Ill 

tt^'^  ^r'"°  *■""  *•"■  ^"'P'"""  "«  "  «"  dark,  that  they  h^ 
puzzled  the  wisest  men;"  others  that,  being  ■•  heathens  "  T,l 
havng  never  had  ■■  the  written  Word'prealed  .  he""  th  y 
are  enftled  to  pardon  ;  in  reply  to  which,  the  metaphysical  ^ 
t  et.es  of  the  doctrines  of  election  and  grace  are  fa%  pr„p„,md 
ed.  The  next  class  of  offenders  might  awaken  the  symp^tWes 
mat"™!!!!'*  ""'  ''"'"•"'  ''^  "  '"^'"'P'="»  °f  theolS  do^! 

"  Then  to  the  bar  all  they  drew  near 
Who  died  in  infancy, 
And  never  had,  or  good  or  bad, 
Effected  personally,"  &c.      ' 

A  J^r  'mIT'i  rT'*^^*«  ^gai»«t  the  hardship  of  having 
Adam  s  guilt  laid  to  their  charge  : "avuig 

"Not  we,  but  he,  ate  of  the  tree 

Whose  fruit  was  interdicted  • 

Yet  on  us  all,  of  his  sad  fall,     ' 

The  punishment's  inflicted." 

^^^TheJudge  replies,  that  none  can  suffer  ««  for  what  they  never 

"  But  whet  you  call  old  Adam's  fall, 
And  only  his  trespass, 
You  call  amiss  to  call  it  his. 
Both  his  and  yours  it  was. 

"  ^®  ^««  designed,  of  all  mankind, 
To  be  a  public  head ; 
A  common  root,  whence  all  should  shoot. 
And  stood  in  all  their  stead. 
"  He  stood  and  fell,  did  ill  and  weU 
Not  for  himself  alone. 
But  for  you  all,  who  now  his  fall 
And  trespass  would  disown. 
"  If  he  he  had  stood,  then  all  his  brood 

Had  beeii  established,"  &c. 
"Would  you  have  grieved  to  have  received 

1  hough  Adam  so  much  good?"  &c. 
"  Since  then  to  share  in  his  welfare 
You  would  have  been  content. 
You  ma,y  with  reason,  share  in  his  treason. 
And  m  his  punishment." 


(171.) 


(172.) 


(173.) 
(174.) 


Chap.  III.] 


DAY  OF  DOOM." 


51 


A  great  body  of  Scripture  texts  are  here  introduced  in  confirm- 
ation ;  but  the  children  are  told,  even  including  those  "  who  from 
the  womb  unto  the  tomb  were  straightway  carried,"  that  they 
are  to  have  "  the  easiest  room  in  hell :" 

(181.)       "  The  glorious  King,  thus  answering, 
They  cease,  and  plead  no  longer, 
Their  consciences  must  needs  confess 
His  reasons  are  the  stronger." 

The  pains  of  hell  and  the  constant  renovation  of  strength  to 
enable  the  "  sinful  v/ight"  to  bear  an  eternity  of  torment,  are 
then  dilated  upon  at  such  length,  and  so  minutely,  and  a  picture 
so  harrowing  to  the  soul  is  drawn,  as  to  remind  us  of  the  excel- 
lent observations  on  this  head  of  a  modern  New  England  divine. 
"  It  is  not  wonderful,"  he  says,  "  that  this  means  of  subjugating 
the  mind  should  be  freely  used  and  dreadfully  perverted,  when 
we  consider  that  no  talent  is  required  to  inspire  fear,  and  that 
coarse  minds  and  hard  hearts  are  signally  gifted  for  this  work  of 
torture."  "  It  is  an  instrument  of  tremendous  power,"  he  adds, 
"  enabling  a  Protestant  minister,  whilst  disclaiming  papal  pre- 
tensions, to  build  up  a  spiritual  despotism,  and  to  beget  in  those 
committed  to  his  guidance  a  passive,  servile  state  of  mind,  too 
agitated  for  deliberate  and  vigorous  thought."* 

That  the  pious  minister  of  Maiden,  however,  had  no  desire  to 
usurp  any  undue  influence  over  his  panic-stricken  hearers,  is  very 
probable,  and  that  he  was  only  indulging  in  the  usual  strain  of 
the  preachers  of  his  time,  when  he  told  of  the  '« yellirig  of  the 
damned,  as  they  were  burnt  eternally  in  the  company  of  devils," 
and  went  on  to  describe  how 

"  God's  vengeance  feeds  the  flame 
With  piles  of  wood  and  brimstone  flood, 
That  none  can  quench  the  same." 

We  next  learn  that  the  peace  and  calm  blessedness  of  the 
saints  elect,  who  are  received  into  heaven,  is  not  permitted  to  be 
disturbed  by  compassion  for  the  danmed ;  mothers  and  fathers 
feeling  no  pity  for  their  lost  children  : 

*  Channing's  Works,  London,  vol.  iii.  p.  263. 


"DAY  OF  DOOM." 


[Chap.  III. 


"  The  godly  wife  conceives  no  grief, 
Nor  can  she  shed  a  tear, 
For  the  sad  fate  of  hel-  dear  mate 
When  she  his  doona  doth  hear." 

The  great  distinction  between  the  spirit  of  the  times  when 
these  verses  were  written  and  the  present  age,  appears  to  be  this, 
that  a  paramount  importance  was  then  attached  to  those  doctrinal 
points  in  which  the  leading  sects  differed  from  each  other,  whereas 
now  Christianity  is  more  generally  considered  to  consist  essen- 
tially in  believing  and  obeying  those  scriptural  precepts  on  which 
all  churches  agree. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Journey  from  Portland  to  the  Whito  Mountains —Plants.— Churches, 
Sch(K)l-houses.— Temperance  Hotel.— Intelligence  of  New  Englanders. 
—Climate,  Consumption.— Conway.— Division  of  Property.— Every  Man 
his  own  Tenant.- Autumnal  Tints.— Bears  hybernating.— Wil  ey  Slide. 
—Theory  of  Scratches  and  Grooves  on  Rocks.— Scenery.— Waterlalls 
and  Ravines.— The  Notch.— Forest  Trees  as  .  Mountam  Plants.— 
Fabyan's  Hotel. — Echo. 

Sept.  28,   1845. Leaving  Portland  and  the  sea-coast,  we 

now  struck  inland  in  a  westerly  direction  toward  the  White 
Mountains,  having  hired  a  carriage  which  carried  us  to  Standish. 
We  passed  at  first  over  a  low,  featureless  country,  hut  enlivened 
hy  the  hrilliant  autumnal  coloring  of  the  foUage,  especially  the 
hright  red,  purple,  and  yellow  tints  of  the  maple.     The  leaves 
of  these  trees  and  of  the  scrub  oak  had  been  made  to  change 
color  by  the  late  frost  of  the  1 0th  of  this  month.    On  the  borders 
of  the  road,  on  each  side,  mixed  with  the  fragrant  "  sweet  fern," 
v/e  saw  abundance  of  the  Spircea  tomentosa,  its  spike  of  purplish 
flowers  now  nearly  faded.     The  name  of  "  hard  hack"  was  given 
to  it  by  the  first  settlers,  because  the  stalk  turned  the  edge  of 
the  mower's  scythe.     There  were  also  golden  rods,  everlastings, 
and  asters  in  profusion ;   one  of  Ihe  asters  being  called  '« frost 
blow."  because  flowering  after  the  first  frost.     We  also  gathered 
on  t'ae  ground  the  red  fruit  of  the  checkerberry  {Gaulteria  pro- 
muibens),  used  in  New  England  to  flavor  sweetmeats.  .  By  the 
side  of  these  indigenous  plants  was  the  common  English  self-heal 
(Prunella  vulgaris),  the  mullein  (  Verbascum  thapsus),  and  pther 
flowers,  reminding  me  of  the  remark  of  an  American  botanist, 
that  New  England  has  become  the  garden  of  European  weeds  ; 
so  that  in  some  agricultural  counties  near  the  coast,  such  as  Essex 
in  Massachusetts,  the  exotics  almost  outniimber  the  native  plants. 
It  is,  however,  found,  that  the  farther  we  *Tavel  northward, 
toward  the  region  where  North  America  and  Europe  approach 


b4 


CIIURCIIES.-SCHOOL-IIOUSKS. 


[Chap.  IV 


each  other,  the  proportion  of  plants  specifically  common  to  tho 
two  contments  is  constantly  on  tho  increase  ;  whereas  in  passing 
to  the  more  southern  states  of  tho  Union,  wo  find  almost  every 
indigenous  species  to  bo  distinct  from  European  plants. 

Although  the  nights  are  cold,  the  sun  at  mid-day  is  very  hot 
the  contrast  of  temperature  in  the  course  of  each  twenty-four 
hours  being  great,  like  that  of  the  summer  and  winter  of  this 
olimat' 

We  journeyed  on  over  very  tolerable  roads  without  paying 
turnpikes,  one  only,  I  am  told,  being  established  in  all  Maine 
The  expenses  of  making  and  repairing  the  highways  are  defrayed 
by  local  taxes,  a  surveyor  being  appointed  for  each  district  Wo 
went  through  the  villages  of  Gorham,  Standish,  Baldwin,  Hiram, 
and  Bloomfield,  to  Conway,  and  then  began  to  enter  the  mount- 
ains, the  scenery  constantly  improving  as  we  proceeded.  Here 
and  there  we  saw  Indian  corn  cultivated,  but  the  summer  of 
Maine  and  New  Hampshire  is  often  too  short  to  bring  this  gram 
to  maturity. 

Usually,  in  a  single  village,  we  saw  three,  four,  or  five 
churches,  each  representing  a  difTerent  denomination  ;  the  Con- 
gregationahsts,  Baptists,  Methodists,  and  now  and  then,  though 
more  rarely,  the  Unitarians.  Occasionally,  in  some  quiet  spot 
where  two  village  roads  cross,  we  saw  a  small,  simple  buildintr 
and  learned  that  it  was  the  free  or  common  school  provided  by 
law,  open  to  all,  not  accepted  as  a  bounty,  but  claimed  as  a  right 
where  the  children  of  rich  and  poor,  high  and  low,  and  of  every 
sect,  meet  upon  perfect  equality.  It  is  a  received  political  maxim 
here,  that  society  is  bound  to  provide  education,  as  well  as  security 
of  life  and  property,  for  all  its  members. 

.  One  evening,  as  we  were  drawing  near  to  a  straggling  village, 
m  the  twilight,  we  were  recommended  by  a  traveler,  whom  we 
had  met  on  the  road,  to  take  up  our  quarters  at  a  temperance 
hotel,  where,  he  said,  -  there  would  be  no  loafers  lounging  and 
drinking  drams  in  the  bar-room."  We  looked  out  for  the  sign 
and  soon  saw  it,  surmounted  by  a  martin-house  of  four  stories' 
each  diminishing  in  size  from  the  bottom  to  the  top,  but  all  the 
apartments  now  empty,  the  birds  having  taken  flight,  warned  by 


I 


:hxv.  IV.] 


TEMrEllANCB  HCTKL. 


59 


u    Ui«  froBt      Wo  had.  indeed,  been  Btruck  with  the  dearth  uf 
'^    r  ^  w  I  tribe  ill  Maine  at  this  seaBon.  the  greater  number 

C-n.  at  time,,  when  they  had  no  gu«..  and  on     e  .aWe 
.ere  books  on  ^  ^l^^J  Xo^^^^'' ^^VO^m  -  -ply 

::;rr  ;:s  trxro^  rx.  w,  .nehh.  each 

«*^;re7t";rl^rn>t^H  r.™.  the  Dee,a,aUon 

„f  td:  Lll,  with  .u  ^:f^'fz^:^;^^yz 

rrs^rSr  Se^rrwX'ntS.  Ty...     on 
United  ^?f  ««'/T^  ^  ^ost  formidable   hkenesB    of 

another  Bide  of   the  room  was  a  , ,.  ,    ,   j     Comiecticut. 

^g  ofl  ctoical  an  allusion  should  be  lost,  we  read  below- 

«  Diogenes  his  lantern  needs  no  more,  ^^ 

An  honest  man  is  found,  the  search  is  o  er. 

While  supper  was  preparing,  I  turned  over  a  heap  of  news- 
WpTrf  of  var'ious  shades  of  politics.  One  of  them  contained  a 
^  -^  .ViX  to  the  leadin-  article  of  an  extreme  democratic 
-P^:^^^^^  on  a  favoritete^  of  ^he  pcpula. 

b;^"  - --x^h:  "Xie  eir:"::;  o  w 

ZaT-'so    that,  before   Texas   is   yet  fairly    annexed    the 
UaSnation  of  the '..more  territory"  -lot",  ^^as  -"rpo^  J  a^ 
Mexico  if  not  Central  America,  into  the  Union      In  *«  <""™ 
ariTwe  recorded,  as  usual,  the  names  of  several  ••  revolutionary 
X~ed  eightyfive  and  ninety,  and  I  spent  some  mmute. 


PBOVINCIAL  NEWSPAPERS.  [Ch,,.  jy. 

in  wondering  why  they  who  fought  for  republican  independent 
had  been  so  frequently  rewarded  with  longevity,  till  ItW^Z 

he  fono^d     f  V.lf  "T  °*°'  <''«'«"'"«»™S  -"i-lresses,  I  read 
the  follow..ig .      Fellow  democrats,  the  Philistines  are  upon  us 
the  wh>gs  are  striving  to  sow  dissension  in  our  ranks  taTou," 
objeot  must  be  to  place  in  the  senate  a  sterling  de^crat"'  Te 
such  an  appeal  to  electors  who  are  to  fill  up  I  vaclcv  in  rh!, 
more  conservative  branch  of  the  Congress  at  wLw  J  t  ^f 

"S  Sv"!  '"r,^"^"*---     Another  artict  Cm 

Henry  Clay   President  for  1848,"  seemed  a  most  prematur^ 

anticipation  of  a  future  and  distant  contest,  Mr.  Polk  havW  u" 

been  chosen  for  the  next  four  years  as  first  magistrate,  ator  mC 

months  of  excitement  and  political  turmoil.    Yet.  upon  the  wmI 

he  provincial  newspapers  appear  to  me  to  abound  in  IfJInd 

mst  uchve  matter  with  many  well-selected  extracts  fr„rmod^ 

publications,  especially  travels,  abstracts  of  lectures  on  t^p^an  e 

ZintTJir  r"*'""  ™''J"'*='  '^'*'"  °"  -^ricuUnrror  »me 
point  of  political  economy  or  commercial  legislation.  Even  in 
party  politics,  the  cheapness  of  the  imiumeraMe  daily  and  weekl^ 
papers  enables  every  villager  to  read  what  is  said  on  morlthan 
one  side  of  each  question,  and  this  has  a  tendency™  ^Tko^^ 

p^ut'-air '"  "''"■^'-"  -" '-»-  -"  «™t:  1 

We  happened  to  be  the  only  strangers  in  the  tavern  and 
when  supper  was  brought  in  by  the  landlord  and  his  ^f"'  th"t" 
sat  down  beside  us,  begged  us  to  feel  at  home,  pressedTs  to  ea? 
and  evidently  considered  us  more  in  the  ligit  of  ^esto  whort 
they  must  entertain  hospitably,  than  as  customers.     Our  hoTtr 

!«,r  .1.     '      '  7'""^  *"  P"'  '■"»«'f  t°  «"ne  inconvenience 

wet  p karmrand"  T  l"",'^""^  '"""'y-     Their  mZ 
ZIZ I''*''™^',  "f-  "'■«"  they  learned  that  we  were  from  En- 
gland,   hey  asked  many  questions  about  the  free-kirk  mov^mtn, 

^ffer^  fit  tat  °"  P"  *°  ^'""^  "'  """°"^  «lucationX« 
r  S  ^Z^l  L"  .^™'"^'  »"  "li^"  *«  l«»-i'ord  had  been 


reading  an  article  m  a  mon-n^;^ 


They  were  greatly  amused 


Chap.  IV.]     INTELLIGENCE  OF  NEW  ENGLANDERS. 


57 


when  I  told  them  that  some  of  the  patriots  of  their  State  had 
betrayed  to  me  no  slight  sensitiveness  and  indignation  about  an 
expression  imputed  to  Lord  Palmerston  in  a  recent  debate  on  the 
Canadian  border-feud,  when  he  spoke  of  "  the  wild  people  of 

Maine." 

They  were  most  curious  to  learn  the  names  of  the  rocks  and 
plants  we  had  coUecLed,  and  told  us  that  at  the  free-school  they 
had  been  taught  the  elements  of  geology  and  botany.  They  in- 
formed us  that  in  these  rural  districts,  many  who  teach  m  the 
winter  months  spend  the  money  they  receive  for  their  salary  in 
educating  themselves  in  some  college  during  the  remainder  oi 
the  year  ;  so  that  a  clever  youth  may  in  this  way  rise  f-om  the 
humblest  station  to  the  bar  or  pulpit,  or  become  a  teacher  in  a 
large  town.  Farm  laborers  in  the  State,  besides  bemg  boarded 
and  found  in  clothes,  receive  ten  dollars,  or  two  guineas,  a  month 
wages,  out  of  which  they  may  save  and  •'  go  west,"  an  expression 
every  where  equivalent  to  bettering  one's  condition.  "  The  pros- 
pect of  heaven  itself,"  says  Cooper,  in  one  of  his  novels  "  would 
have  no  charms  for  aii  American  of  the  back-woods,  if  he 
thought  there  was  any  place  farther  west." 

I  remarked  that  most  of  the  farmers  and  laborers  had  pale 
complexions  and  a  care-worn  look.  "  This  was  owing  partly, 
said  the  landlord,  «« to  the  climate,  for  many  were  consumptive, 
and  the  changes  from  intense  heat  to  great  cold  are  excessive 
here ;  and  partly  to  the  ambitious,  striving  character  of  the 
natives,  who  are  not  content  to  avoid  poverty,  but  expect,  and 
not  without  reason,  to  end  their  days  in  a  station  far  above  that 
from  which  they  start."  We  were  struck  with  the  almost  en- 
tire absence  of  the  negro  race  in  Maine,  the  winter  of  this  State 
being  ill  suited  to  them.  The  free  blacks  are  m  great  part 
paupers,  and  supported  by  the  poor  laws.  We  fell  m  with  a 
few  parties  of  itinerant  Indians,  roaming  about  the  country  like 

our  gipsies.  . 

Resuming  our  journey,  we  stopped  at  an  inn  where  a  great 
many  mechanics  boarded,  taking  three  meals  a  day  at  the  ordi- 
narv.  They  were  well  dressed,  but  their  coarse  (though  clean) 
hands  announced  their  ordinary  occupaxiuu.     ^itci  «.««..  ^,^ra. 


58 


DIVISION  OF  PROPERTY. 


.     [Chap.  IV. 

were  Tdi  g  IZ^S  Toot  Tr'T^  '  '"'-»-'-- 
all  returned  to  tZr  wk  0„  f  V  '  ''''"  ^  *<"'  '"^J  ««'? 
laid  down,  I  found  throne  wi  D'i?  r  "'?°*  ""^^  "^^ 
other  Burns'  Poems  MdTthM         T  '  '  "  Ceningsby,"  an- 

Frazer.  Maga^inriu^.'^the '^Ts  ^  K„C  JSJ-J''  '™'" 

reply  was,  "Sr  holof  "  T  f  ■«""■■>="!«»  i*  belonged.  The 
to"  thri;i„g  X^J  ™»  J  f  ^■'y  that  the  plaoe  seemed 
"Yes,  and  every  man  w"  ^  ^  '''  '^'"'  ™''^»'  »atisfaetion, 
all  owned  theToura^ld  L'^^^^ToerS"  ^Zt'  '^  *^^ 

rptet^-^  getLnrf"  t™^'  «o X'nr; 

The  approach  to  an  ^'a  s  ,M  •  '"^""S!"""  *«  United  States. 
is  not  Z  result  he  eTf'  co^tT"  1  "'"^"^^  ^™™S  "l""™. 
custom;  and  I  was  Burprise^t^H  .f*'  "'  '"  ^™'«"''  >""  »' 
modified,  aceordiTto  "SvM  ^  ■^'"^  T"^  '^^  P^'''"""  « 
assured,  indeed   bv  neZ,  ?     "'■"'  "^  *'  "'"""•    I  "as 

that  in'nine  ies'ou'^.Tte;i1rir''t"'^  f  """"'  '''^^''• 
England  do  not  leaw  ,W  .™''°"S  farmers  in  New 

eh/dren,  as  thri^^XSE  "if'"h'  tT*"  ''"' 
It  IS  very  common  for  Pvomr.1.  7  i  ,     ^^^  ^'^^  mtestate. 

a.  the  dLghteTJd  f  :;x  °o  r  tt  r%*™^r  """"^ 

requiring  him  to  pay  sma\  legLl^Tohe  „.h  rT  T'thV'""' 
01  one  of  mv  apnnnin+ov.^^        i  ,  "^"ers.      m  the  case 

than  the  da^g^errw:'  ;^zj'\z\rt  'iv'^'-' 

among  the  chifdLr  When  Std     t  T"^"^  "^P"'"'™ 
the  twelve  or  fourteen  W.!  ?T  '°  *"  """""  '»  wW"!" 

eonsiderahle  in  E^.tfT  erb:^Lrd  il  Z"  '""d'  "' 

of  English  descen  ^throland  rv'''"°"l*'?"'''^"^y'»™ 
IWhman.     In  the  mo^-X^tmlZ.  S  if i:s:L! 


Chap.  IV.] 


EVERY  MAN  HIS  OWN  TENANT. 


59 


equality  in  the  distribution  both  of  real  and  personal  property ; 
but  this  is  doubtless  in  no  small  degree  connected  with  the  moio 
moderate  size  of  the  fortunes  there.  The  ideas  entertained  in 
Bome  of  these  ruder  parts  of  the  country,  of  the  extreme  destitu- 
tion of  the  younger  children  of  aristocratic  families  in  Great 
Britain,  are  often  most  mistaken  and  absurd ;  though  particular 
instances  in  Scotland,  springing  out  of  the  old  system  of  entails, 
may  have  naturally  given  rise  to  erroneous  generalizations.  It 
was  evident  to  me  that  few,  if  any,  of  these  critics,  had  ever  re- 
garded primogeniture  as  an  integral  portion  of  a  great  political 
system,  wholly  different  from  their  own,  the  merits  of  which  can 
not  fairly  be  tried  by  a  republican  standard. 

Both  in  New  England  and  in  the  State  of  New  York,  I  heard 
many  complaints  of  the  inadequacy  of  the  capital  belonging  to 
small  landed  proprietors  to  make  their  acres  yield  the  greatest 
amount  of  produce  with  the  least  expenditure  of  means.  They 
are  often  so  crippled  with  debt  and  mortgages,  paying  high  in- 
terest, that  they  can  not  introduce  many  improvements  in  agri- 
culture, of  which  they  are  by  no  means  ignorant.  Nevertheless, 
the  farmers  here  constitute  a  body  of  resident  yeomen,  industrious 
and  intelligent ;  absenteeism  being  almost  unknown,  owing  to  the 
great  difficulty  of  letting  farms,  and  the  owners  being  spread 
equally  over  the  whole  country,  to  look  after  the  roads  and 
village-schools,  and  to  see  that  there  is  a  post-office  even  in  each 
remote  mountain  hamlet.  The  pride  and  satisfaction  felt  by  men 
who  till  the  land  which  is  their  own,  is,  moreover,  no  small  ad- 
vantage, although  one  which  a  political  economist,  treating  solely 
of  the  production  of  wealth,  may  regard  as  lying  out  of  his  prov- 
vince.  As  a  make-weight,  however,  in  our  estimate  of  the  amount 
of  national  happiness  derived  from  landed  property,  it  is  not  to  be 
despised;  and  where  "every  man  is  his  own  tenant,"  as  at  Con- 
way, the  evils  of  short  leases,  of  ejectments  on  political  grounds, 
or  disputes  about  poaching  and  crimes  connected  with  the  game- 
laws  are  unknown. 

After  passing  Conway,  we  had  fairly  entered  the  mountains 
of  New  Hampshire,  and  enjoyed  some  rambles  over  the  hills, 
delighted  with  the  Bound  of  rushing  torrents  and  the  wildness  of 


60 


FORESTS.— BEARS. 


[Chap.  IV 

in  one  place,  and  the  maples  tht  tV     i.  n       '^  ^'''"  ^'"^^°*^^ 
in  another  ^oux^di^Tt  ^''  ^""'^'**  autumnal  foliage 

as  to  Vro^Zlt^ZtT:^^  ^^  ''''''  °'  '''  ^^"^ ' 
trees,  with  their  whit.  ""^^^^^^  ettect.      There  were  many  birch 

by  its  shininff  leavps      TK^      "•- "^"^wer^  out  still  conspicuous 

appoared  onThil  ^  gr„™d  aX!"  IfTr'^^  ""  '""^'^ 
caUed  here  ..  brake  "  hri„?  °£'°"'^  ''^  »■>«  «™«  &">. 

fragmeate  of  ihat  ro^kfift         ^^''^  ""'°  """y  h-ge  angular 

the  river  st?T  ?^         J""*'     ^'  ""  *'"°^='l  *e  windings  of 

flats  at  diff3  elevaJ™!'  '  ^'"'''  ""*  '»"^'^^"'  '""'i-g 

and  other  ^Z^tZ^.  Z  ZZ"  "^"^  ^^^  "'  ^™'""'<' 

with  red  J^  elllld  hri).T"'  '"."''  "^  '"^e  grasshoppers, 
wandering  fS  ot  ponr^tth:;""  liThft^^^^'^ 
squirrel,  allowed  us  to  plTerv  near  ,!  1      "''^•l''*' ""'y 
alarmed.     The  bear  oneHxtei Tka  th.  T  '"*""'  ^'"^ 
whole  of  New  Ensrland  •  W  T^'  i       '*''™'''  o™'  ^o 

extirpated,  Z  the  bl  dr.vel  il^.""  ''''  ^°°  '"'^^  ^''«- 

retreL  tH^y  stiU  ^k7alTd;l,ltrrr  fie/Tr  ^^ 
com,  and  the  farmers  relali.t.  ;„,  ,°"f  °"™  Mds  of  Indian 
their  rifles,  but  bTSunl  w^.V  "  ''  ""^  *'"™"S  «'»"  ^i"- 
a  very  unf^r  aJvl4^"„^eMher"' OnTT",  "°""'  "°™'''" 
Bruin,  who  has  been^bZa'^^for^v^dt  X"^''"''' ''''^■ 
ventures  out,  before  the  snow  has  quite  melted  .o!t  ?  T' 
the  country;  then  retires  again  t^t  wlt' p  a  f whitl?' b" 
hunter  discovers  by  following  his  foot  traoks°orthe'  s"t  at^ 


Chap.  IV.] 


WILLEY  SLIDE. 


61 


digs  him  out  of  his  hole.  Near  Bartlett  I  was  taken  to  see  the 
skeleton  of  a  bear  that  had  been  lately  killed.  The  fanners  told 
me  that  the  racoons  do  much  damage  here,  by  devouring  the  In- 
dian corn,  but  the  opossum  does  not  extend  so  far  to  the  north. 

On  the  second  day  after  leaving  Conway  we  entered  a  wild 
and  narrow  mountain  pass,  with  steep  declivities  on  both  sides, 
where  the  hills  can  not  be  less  than  1000  or  1500  feet  in  vertical 
height.  Here  the  famous  landslip,  called  the  Willey  Slide,  oc- 
curred in  August,  1826.  The  avalanche  of  earth,  stones,  and 
trees  occurring  after  heavy  rains,  was  so  sudden,  that  it  over- 
whelmed all  the  Willey  family,  nine  in  number,  who  would  have 
escaped  had  they  remained  in  their  humble  dwelling ;  for,  just 
above  itj  the  muddy  torrent  was  divided  into  two  branches  by  a 
projecting  rock.  The  day  after  the  catastrophe  a  candle  was 
found  on  the  table  of  their  deserted  room,  burnt  down  to  the 
socket,  and  the  Bible  lying  open  beside  it. 

I  was  curious  to  examine  the  effects  of  this  and  other  slides 
of  the  same  date  in  the  White  Mountains,  to  ascertain  what  effect 
the  passage  of  mud  and  heavy  stones  might  have  had  in  furrow- 
ing the  hard  surfaces  of  bared  rocks  over  which  they  had  passed  ; 
it  having  been  a  matter  of  controversy  among  geologists,  how  far 
those  straight  rectilinear  grooves  and  scratches  before  alluded  to,* 
might  have  been  the  result  of  glacial  action,  or  whether  they  can 
be  accounted  for  by  assuming  that  deluges  of  mud  and  heavy 
stones  have  swept  over  the  dry  land.     A  finer  opportunity  of 
testing  the  adequacy  of  the  cause  last  mentioned  can  not  be  con- 
ceived than  is  afforded  by  these  hills  ;  for,  in  consequence,  appar- 
ently, of  the  jointed  structure  of  the  rocks  and  their  decomposition 
produced  by  great  variations  of  temperature  (for  they  are  subjected 
to  intense  summer  heat  and  winter's  cold  in  the  course  of  the 
year),  there  is  always  a  considerable  mass  of  superficial  detritus 
ready  to  be  detached  during  very  heavy  rains,  even  where  the 
steep  slopes  are  covered  with  timber.     Such  avalanches  begin 
from  small  points,  and,  after  descending  a  few  hundred  yards,  cut 
into  the  mountain  side  a  deep  trench,  which  becomes  rapidly 
broader  and  deeper,  and  they  bear  down  before  them  the  loftiest 

♦  Ante,  p.  18. 


62 


SCRATCHES  AND  GROOVES  ON  ROCKS. 


[Chap.  IV 

a  quarter  of  a  mile  •  and  8„  !»,„  Ti  ",  ""^^^  '"•»»'*">  »'' 
found  some  of  them^hLV  ^  "^  ""  ."»l^  f^g^eM'.  that  I 
measure  fro™  four  "nttwerf  7^^"  '"^  "^'"^^  «"'^'='  «° 
trined  that  the  sttp  do^  "f\    *  ""  t'™°""'-     ^  "'«'  »»'^«'- 

400  feet  above  the  lev^l  „f ^   o  clambenng  up  more  than 

a  space  o?  uIm  r<ik  «ft.      /r'  °"  "'  "S'^'  bank,  I  reaohed 

.  the  d.et  -re:ft;:-t^^- ---:-.  4 

and^^lrneXrr  ^^idT L^ '  l^^''"  "'  ^-* 
the  rooks  heing  smoothed  ol  ^  s:^!  '!' rkedS't'  '" 
irregular  and  short  seratches  and  grooms     but  nT     f 

not  be  deflected  from  a  rectUinear  courl  '       ^'"  ""^  """ 

I  am  aware  that  glaciers  and  icebergs  are  not  tb.  „„l , 
by  which  the  grooving  and  polishing  of  the  tas  of  1^^""°"" 
be  caused ;  for  similar  effect^  may  Irise  on  the  it    f  fi  """^ 

the  opposite  w^l^'a-tbtJtts  '3  m?;  :;■-' 

"prgi^i^Xn-hT^-irST^^^^^^ 

what  I  saw  at  the  Willpv  «;1,^^<.       4    !l       ,       Amenca ;  and 
aw  dt  xne  wiiiey  bhde,  and  other  p  aces  in  thp  \VK,t^ 
Mountains,  convinced  me  that  a  semi-fluid  ma's  ^fmnd        1 
stones  must  always  have  too  much  freedom  of  motion   aTd     ? 

From  the  WiUey  Slide  we  continued  our  way  along  the  hot- 


Ohap.  IV.] 


FOREST  TREES. 


63 


torn  of  the  narrow  valley  of  the  Saco,  listening  with  pleasure  to 
the  river  as  it  foamed  and  roared  over  its  stony  bed,  and  admir- 
ing two  water-falls,  broken  into  sheets  of  white  foam  in  their  de- 
scent. The  scene  became  more  grand  as  we  entered  the  defile 
called  the  Notch,  where,  although  the  sun  was  high,  the  lofty 
crags  threw  dark  shadows  across  our  path.  On  either  hand  were 
wild  and  nearly  perpendicular  precipices,  the  road,  on  the  side 
overhanging  the  Saco,  being  usually  protected  by  parapets  of" 
stone  or  timber.  A  steep  ascent  led  us  up  to  a  kind  of  pass  or 
water-shed,  where  there  was  an  inn  kept  by  one  of  the  Crawford 
family,  well  known  in  this  region,  which  reminded  me  of  some 
of  those  hotels  perched  in  similar  wild  situations  in  the  Alps,  as 
on  the  Simplon  and  Grimsel.  We  learned  that  snow  had  fallen 
here  in  the  second  week  of  September,  and  the  higher  hills  had 
been  whitened  for  a  time ;  but  they  are  now  again  uncovered. 
Already  the  elevation  has  produced  a  marked  change  in  the  veg- 
etation  ^the  hemlock,  the  spruce,  the  balm  of  Gilead  fir  [Pinus 

balsamea),  and  the  white  pine,  beginning  to  form,  with  the  birch, 
a  large  proportion  of  the  forest  trees.      The  white  pine,  called  in 
England  the  Weymouth  pine  {Finus  strobus),  is  the  most  mag- 
nificent in  size.     It  sometimes  attains  a  diameter  of  five  feet,  and 
a  height  of  150  feet,  both  here  and  in  other  parts  of  New  Hamp- 
shire and  Maine ;  but  it  is  very  rare  to  meet  w^ith  such  trees 
now,  the  finest  having  been  burnt  down  in  the  great  fires  which 
have  every  where  devastated  the  woods.     I  observed  the  boughs 
of  the  spruce  hung  with  a  graceful  white  lichen,  called  Old 
Man's  Beard  ( Usnea  barbata),  a  European  species.     The  com- 
mon fern  {Pteris  aquilina),  now  covers  the  moist  ground  under 
the  dark  shade  of  the  woods,  and  all  the  rotting  trunks  of /alien 
trees  are  matted  over  with  a  beautiful  green  carpet  of  moss, 
formed  ahnost  entirely  of  the  feathery  leaves  of  one  of  the  most 
elegant  of  the  tribe,  also  occurring  in  Scotland  {Hi/pnum  Crista 
castrensis).     Several  kinds  of  club  moss  (LycopcJdium),  which, 
like  the  Hijpnum,  were  in  full  fructification,  form  also  a  con- 
spicuous part  of  the  herbage ;   especially  one  species,  standing 
erect  like  a  miniature  tree,  whence  its  name,  L.  dendroideum, 
from  six  to  eight  inches  high. 


04 


MOUNTAIN  PLANTS.-EOHO. 


[Ohai".  IV 

byan's  Hotel     to;"rS,  ITr  *"  ^'"''.'^y  "«  F- 

weathe,  to  a«=e„d  MTunrWasr^t™  Wh  ™"'"^  .f"  «"' 
ceased  for  a  few  hours  we  e^Z^TT  ^^™'=™'-  »h=  rain 
tunate  enough  to  We  I?'  '•°  '°'^°'  ■""»■  """I  ''"^  «>'- 

ablest  botantas  in  America  Z'^w'"  Tr""^'  "»'  "^  ">« 
Massachusetts,  who  is  Z^r^V  ''T  °*^^'*  "^  ^P™"!-. 
the  Flora  of  C  White  M™3!-  P""'"*'""  »  "»«  ""^k  „„ 
with  him  to  «e  tl«  Wis  rfZ  •'•  a"  "'"'  "'^  ™'  »»»™« 
several  places^here  th,  r  7'  A"ioonosuc,  he  showed  us 

fruit.     I  M  s^tThil  ltr"^fl  fc^-e'a^^  was  growiug,  „„w  i„ 

1842.  but  wasTt  p^atd  to"  "Z^e^lr  ^  '"*'=  ="  ""y- 
southward,  having  fi«t  know„  ^t  .  ^'"^'"1"'.  """'h  farther 
and  of  great  AlpL  heights™  Eu  '  ""^ ^7  "'  ^r^'' 
surprised  when  I  learned  from  Mr  ofkes  ^hat  itT  '."  ""* 
mto  the  wooded  plains  of  N.»  H.       t-    '      ,     '  descends  even 

wiuter  and  of  suSl     ^  neafrser  wt  V"™'  "  "'""^ 

a.  between  Manchester  lid  c;*e'"An:e,  laT'  '  "o^N  IX 

habits  t..e  same  swamp  with  the  Magnolia  elauca      -rCl    "" 

plants  of  genera  charaeteristicTf  verSelt  latTt™r°  "V™ 
the  e.t,eme  limits  of  its  northern  or  LutSm  r^!^"''"'  *'"''  "" 

few  clear  notes  on  a  hom   wwii  .  "'•  ^^''J'""'  P'"!'"!  » 

time,  by  the  echo  i^  ^^J^\  were  distmctly  repeated  five 

J  "^^^  «^no,  in  souened  and  melodious  ton^      Tv.^  ♦i.-  i 

repetition,  although  comW  of  course  fron/  „  *      .     ^^'"^ 

the  focus  of  "he  eUi^  "^*  ■*"""'  ^P"''  »»">  «='=«%  in 

In  the  elevated  plain  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains  at  Fabyan's 

of.t^.°irrdtltX'r.„S  ^"'  "-'  '^'"'  °'*«  ^"^ 


Chap.  IV.] 


THE  GIANT'S  GRAVE. 


65 


there  is  a  long  superficial  ridge  of  gravel,  sand,  and  boulders, 
having  the  same  appearance  as  those  mounds  which  are  termed 
"  osar"  in  Sweden.  It  is  a  conspicuous  object  on  the  plain,  and 
is  called  the  Giant's  Grave ;  but  in  general  such  geological  ap- 
pearances as  are  usually  referred  to  the  glacial  or  "  drift"  period 
are  rare  in  these  mountains ;  and  I  looked  in  vain  for  glacial 
furrows  and  strise  on  a  broad  surface  of  smooth  granite  recently 
exposed  on  the  banks  of  the  Saco,  in  a  pit  wh«re  gravel  had  been 
taken  out  for  the  repair  of  the  road.  How  fa.  the  rapid  decom- 
position of  the  granite  rocks,  owing  to  the  vast  range  of  annual 
temperature,  may  have  destroyed,  in  this  high  region,  any  mark- 
ings originally  imprinted  on  their  surface,  deserves  consideration. 


CHAPTER  V. 


Ascent  of  Mount  Washinirton —Mr  OoL         ^ 

from  S»mmi,._Migr.,i„„  of  pCs  from  A  °,  T°?  ^'™"'"— «»»■ 
Ciimate  since  Glacial  PcriM  r  ''?'"  Arelic  Regions — Clianiro  of 
rtanconia  Notch.-Rlvi^lttTMMr"  "l''  "f  «'k"o  MountaiLl 

Tabernacle  a,  Boston  ™Sl.ll'^Rl:T™''°li'''  M»'«-»o--Tho 
cism.  ™°  "ons.—Rcmafij,  on  New  England  Panati- 

mit  of  Mount  ^Vashinston  T.r„M  1  ,•  """""«  ""•  "-o  .nm- 
ha.  been  dropped,  as  To!"  dlffiolu  t  tl"  s":""'' "' ^^"»°*»* 
nes-     Ite  summit  is  6225  feet  „  w    .  «'°;^«"»  ™«  or  memo- 

we  were  congratulated  o„  .tprotTctrf  fi7'  "'*''°  '"■  "■"^ 
season,  entirely  free  from  snow      A^  *"'"'"''  "'  *«  ^°  '^««  » 

mounted  on  InJZ  h™  s-mJ  Zlf  °°"™'^''  "'"'"''•  "" 

of  t^e  .ate     ins  a  sma„t ^ '^  rl^^Lat:?  "'-''''■  ^»  '"''« 

base  t:  th?k:,urof  :c:ooSr;™'f'  "^'^"^-^  ^'- "« 

level  of  the  se.^s  clotW  tith  °  /  '  ""*  ""'"'  '"''  '"™™  ""e 
fe  hemloek,  sprue  Wevmou.?/T'^  "'"  ™''-  besides 
tioned,  there  is  the  be«,W^,t'  *!;''  "*''  P"'-  "^fore  men- 
bireh,  the  black,  theyXv^Zi{T'^^'  ""^  '•'■"^^  "^ 

tints  of  every  cokSI "rani  to~^"'"  1  '^'"''"^  ""'■'"^l 

to  purple.     The  mZ^ZtZ.^  ""      ^"i'°*'  ^^^  *<"n  =""1^ 

undergrowth  was  composed  in  part  of  a  Guelder- 


Chap   V.] 


VEGETATION.— DWARF  FIRS. 


67 


rose  ( Viburnum  lanta/widcs),  the  Mexican  laurustinus,  and  the 
gervice-ttee  {liarhus  anericana),  with  Acer  montanum  and  Acer 
striatum.  On  the  groiiad  we  saw  the  beautiful  dwarf  doprwood 
(Cm mis  canadensis),  still  in  flower,  also  the  fruit  of  the  averin, 
or  cloud-berry,  here  called  mulberry  {Rubus  chamcemorus),  well 
known  on  the  Grampians,  and  the  wood-sorrel  {Oxalis  acetosella), 
in  great  quantity,  with  Gaultheria  hispidula.  There  were 
many  large  prostrate  trees  in  various  stages  of  decay,  and  out  of 
their  trunks  young  fir-saplings,  which  had  taken  root  on  the  bark, 
were  seen  growing  erect. 

We  put  up  very  few  birds  as  we  rode  along,  for  the  woods 
are  much  deserted  at  this  season.     A  small   lapwing,  with  a 
note  resembling  the  English  species,  flew  up  from  some  marshy 
ground;  and  we  saw  a  blue  jay  and  a  brown  woodpecker  among 
the  trees,  and  occasionally  a  small  bird  like  a  tomtit  {Parus 
atrocapillus).     I  picked  up  one  land-shell  only  {Helix  thyoides), 
and  was  surprised  at  the  scarcity  of  air-breathing  testacea  here 
and  elsewhere  in  New  England,  where  there  is  so  vigorous  a 
vegetation  and  so  much  summer  heat.     The  absence  of  lime  in 
the  granitic  rocks  is  the  chief  cause  ;  but  even  in  the  calcareous 
districts  these  shells  are  by  no  means  as  plentiful  as  in  correspond- 
ing latitudes  in  Europe. 

When  we  had  passed  through  this  lowest  belt  of  wood  tha 
clouds  cleared  away,  so  that,  on  looking  back  to  the  westward, 
we  had  a  fine  view  of  the  mountains  of  Vermont  and  the  Camel's 
Hump,  and  were  the  more  struck  with  the  magnificent  extent  of 
the  prospect,  as  it  had  not  opened  upon  us  gradually  during  our 
ascent.     We  then  began  to  enter  the  second  region,  or  zone  of 
evergreens,  consisting  of  the  black  spruce  and  the  Pinus  balsci- 
mea,  which   were   at  first   mixed   with   other   forest  trees,  all 
dwarfed  in  height,  till  at  length,  after  we  had  ascended  a  few 
hundred   feet,  these   two  kinds   of  firs  monopolized   the   entire 
ground.     They  are  extremely  dense,  rising  to  about  the  height 
of  a  man's  head,  having  evidently  been  prevented  by  the  cold 
winds  from  continuing  their  upward  growth  beyond  the  level  at 
which  they  are  protected  by  the  snow.      All  their  vigor  seems 
to  have  been  exerted  in  throwing  out  numerous  strong  horizontal 


fS 


Bald  region. 


I 


^___^^^  [Chap.  V 

have  then  been  kineTJ  .iTl      "T""''  '"  '^  ^''^'''  ^^^g^'^' 

«ri„us  otaacle  to  the J„hTfi  ..  J^,„d  J'!,  f"''''' .°?>^f^  » 
vears  aim      n..   t?        •    t,  ascended  the  mountain  th  rtv 

before,  rr  I 'e:LTe^"r-L^r"  '^'"^  '""" 
polled.  ,vi.h  his  companion,  Dr  Billow  ,0^17"°'  T."  '=°'"- 

seen  zigzagging  its  tav  ,T«Ll    n     """'  ^°"^  °^^^"«  ^^« 

of  quartz  are  so  generally  overgrowrv^th  ,w\     u.  T"*] 
yellowish-CTeen    li^h.n    .     """"Brown  with  that  bnght-oolored 

(Lichen  g^Zpk^s\  ItTr"/,"  '^  *™'°''  '»°»»"''»» 
Jespondin,"  ti„73e'  tl'l'^^'^^^Z  "7^."^ 
■region  is  characterized  by  an  asSlal  of  *1  •  *?*"" 

Pla.ts.  now  no  longer  in  U.Zt^f^l-J^TZ^'Z 


OMAr.  v.] 


ARCTIC  FLORA. 


69 


lichens  Bpecifically   identical   >vith   those   of  Northern   Europe 
Among  these,  we  saw  on  the  rocks  the  Parmeha  centnfuga,  a 
Uchen  common  in  Sweden,  but  not  yet  met  with  m  Great  B"tau. 
of  a  greenish-white  color,  which,  commencing  its  growth  from  a 
point  gradually  spreads  on  all  sides,  and  deserts  the  central  space. 
Hef  assumL'an  annular  form,  and  its  -d^ish-brown  shields 
of  fructification,  scattered  over  the  margm.  remind  one  though 
on  a  miniature  scale,  of  those  "  fairy  rings"  on  our  Engl^h  kwns 
which  appear  to  be  unknown  in  America,  and  where  fungi,  or 
mushrooms  are  seen  growing  in  a  circle.  „,,..„  „„„ 

The  flora  of  the  uppermost  region  of  Mour^t  Washington  con- 
sists of  species  which  are  natives  of  the  cold  clmiate  of  Labrador. 
Lapland  Greenland,  and  Siberia,  and  are  '^^Vff^^'  ^JT 
low  of  drought,  as  weU  as  of  both  extremes  of  heat  and  cold 
thi;  are  thfrefire  not  at  all  fitted  to  flourish  in  the  ordinary 
climate  of  New  England.     But  tW  are  preserved  here  durmg 
winter  from  iniury,  by  a  great  depth  of  snow,  and  the  air  in 
l^lJZrJ^J^^t  this  elevation,  too  high  a  temperature 
whTthe  ground  below  is  always  cool.     When  the  snow  melts 
rhey  shoot  up  instantly  with  vigor  proportioned  to  the  length  of 
tfme  they  have  been  dormant,  rapidly  unfold  their  flowers,  and 
m'ture  their  fruits,  and  run  through  the  v.hole  course  of  their 
vegetation  in  a  few  weeks,  irrigated  by  clouds  and  mist. 

Among  other  Alpine  plants,  we  gathered   on  the  Bummit 
Menziesia  cerulea,  and  Rhododendr<m  lapmicum,  both  out  ot 
flower ;    and  not  far  below,  Azalea  procumbens.     Mr.  Oakes 
^S  out  to  me.  in  a  rent  several  htindred  feet  above  the  lower 
margin  of  the  bald  region,  a  spruce  fir  growing  m  the  deft  o    a 
S  where  it  was  sheltered  from  the  winds,  clearly  showing 
that  the  sudden  cessation  of  the  trees  does  not  arise  from  mere 
intensity  of  cold.     We  found  no  snow  on  the  summit,  but  the 
aTr  wtsyercing.  and  for  a  time  we  were  enveloped  m  a  cloud 
:    d'Le'white'fog.  which,  sailing  past  us.  suddenly  disposed  a 
most  brilUant  picture.     On  the  slope  of  the  mountain  below  us 
we  s  en  woods  warmly  colored  with  their  autumnal  tints,  and 
Uahted  up  by  a  bright  sun;  and  in  the  distance  a  vast  plain 
Sn7eaItward%o  Portland,  with  many  silver  lakes,  and 


70 


MIGRATION  OF  PLANTS. 


[Chap.  V 
beyond  these  the  ocean  and  blup  slrv      t*         i-i  '       T""  " 

the  c,„„d,  .„d  we  were"„oca^:„X  r/n^Id^d  o;.?*:?  T  '" 

We  a  length  returned  to  the  hotel  In  the  dIS  ofZ^'     • 
m«eh  delighted  with  onr  excursion  althoi^ahT    f  ^^.^^^'ng, 
lady,  my  wife  having  been  twdr'hon™         ^  't"^"'"^  «"•  » 
inn  should  be  built  at  the  for„f  .h  ^ra^I-ack.     If  an 

be  comparatively  an  easy  one  Lf  ?""'"*'"'''  *°  ''^P'""  ^'1 
Bos.„n,^n,y  l/o"mu7d™LT  n'oo'  mlsTit^""'™';  *T 
completed),  will  enable  any  citizln  to  «1  V  T^  "^'^''^ 
heat,  and,  haying  dep,  the  fef „•  "ht  "t  u  ^^  •""  "™™' 

■noming,  if  he  is  a  wTf  b".an?  the  «•  w  T'  '"•'°y'  ^^  »^^* 
o..d  beautiful  Arctic  plants  in  ftni  f  f  *  ™™*y  "^  ™'« 
cession  of  distinct  z„ner„f  ™  5  '  ^"^'^  *'*''""?  »  ™o- 
flanks  of  Mou'rEtnTo'rlX::::'  ^"""^'^  -""-^  »  the 

lia'sprie^'S^CtsT^tstbr  fr^T  "  -"*  t""'  P-"- 
the  A^hite  Mo^!rZ:ZTe^t,ZZ  ^tZT'  "' 
whUe  none  of  them  are  met  with  in  ihlll,  T  ?^^*^  'P°''' 
for  a  great  distance  to  the  north  we  sItu  fi^o  ""t  "°""''  ™ 
m  trying  to  solve  a  philosopW  aT  pfoblem  X'h  "^"^f 

aid,  not  of  botany  alone  but  nf  J^J  '    .        requires  the 

g^graphica.  "^^^Zu^  ill^S/lL^^'lt^  "'  '"' 
state  of  the  earth's  surface.     We  have  tl  Z^t  P'^'"' 

flora,  consisting  of  plants  specM^aS^Td  S^^th"];;  ""  1^'t 
now  inhabit  lands  bordering  the  sL  in    l        .  '°  "^^'"^ 

America,  Europe   andT.?  7  if  *°  '"^'"^  ""th  of 

Washin^n.  T;w  gX  te Tl^:  tlVI:  '"^  °'  "°™' 
at  present  on  the  earth  are'Ilder  n^  malv lrt°  T°"'  •"'* 
continents  ;  that  is  fo  .,„  ♦!,  ^  P*"^  "^  °"  exist mg 

of  the  exis4r„:;z'  Xrir '.it^''™ "  "^^^ "«' 

rZdtr^i^i/itnrir'^''" 

— g  .om^  ar=;nr  irii^e!^^^^^^^^^^^ 

Pnncples  of  Geology,  ,st  edition,  vol.  iii.  chap.  9. 


Chap.  V.] 


MIGRATION  OF  PLANTS. 


71 


less  obvious  to  any  naturalist  who  has  studied  the  structure  of 
North  America,  and  observed  the  wide  area  occupied  by  the 
modern  or  glacial  deposits  before  alluded  to,*  in  which  marine 
fossil  shells  of  living  but  northern  species  are  entombed.  It  is 
clear  that  a  great  portion  of  Canada,  and  the  country  surround- 
ing the  great  lakes,  was  submerged  beneath  the  ocean  when 
recent  species  of  mollusca  flourished,  of  which  the  fossil  remains 
occur  more  than  500  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sta  near  Mon- 
treal. I  have  already  stated  that  Lake  Champlain  was  a  gulf 
of  the"  sea  at  that  period,  that  large  areas  in  Maine  were  under 
water,  and,  I  may  add,  that  the  White  Mountains  must  then 
have  constituted  an  island,  or  group  of  islands.  Yet,  as  this 
period  is  so  modern  in  the  earth's  history  as  to  belong  to  the 
epoch  of  the  existing  marine  fauna,  it  is  fair  to  infer  that  the 
Arctic  flora  now  contemporary  with  man  was  then  also  estab- 
lished on  the  globe. 

A  careful  study  of  the  present  distribution  of  animals  and 
plants  over  the  globe,  has  led  nearly  all  the  best  naturalists  to 
the  opinion  that  each  species  had  its  origin  in  a  single  birth-place, 
and  spread  gradually  from  its  original  center,  to  all  accessible 
spots  fit  for  its  habitation,  by  means  of  the  powers  of  migration 
given  to  it  from  the  first.     If  we  adopt  this  view,  or  the  doctrine 
of  "  specific  centers,"  there  is  no  difficulty  in  comprehending  how 
the  cryptogamous  plants  of  Siberia,  Lapland,  Greenland,  and 
Labrador  scaled  the  heights  of  Mount  Washington,  because  the 
sporules  of  the  fungi,  lichens,  and  mosses  may  be  wafted  through 
the  air  for  indefinite  distances,  like  smoke  ;  and,  in  fact,  heavier 
particles  are  actually  known  to  have  been  carried  for  thousands 
of  miles  by  the  wind.     But  the  cause  of  the  occurrence  of  Arctic 
plants  of  the  phcenogamous  class  on  the  top  of  the  New  Hamp- 
shire mountains,  specifically  identical  with  those  of  remote  Polar 
regions,  is  by  no  means  so  obvious.     They  could  not,  in  the 
present  condition  of  the  earth,  effect  a  passage  over  the  inter- 
vening low  lands,  because  the  extreme  heat  of  summer  and  cold 
of  winter  would  be  fatal  to  them.     Even  if  they  were  brought 
from  the  northern  parts  of  Asia,  Europe,  and  America,  and 

*  Ante,  p.  33. 


n 


CHANGE  OF  CLIMATE. 


tCHiP.  V. 

thousands  of  them  planted  round  the  foot  of  Mount  Washuurton" 

t;:  ifsurjt'"  w  • '"  r ""'"'"''  °^^»-' «°  "^^ 

fh„      r  J  ?  i  .    ^'  """"  '"PP"*'  therefore,  that  oriKinallv 
they  extended  their  range  in  the  same  M^ay  «^  the  fl"S 

to?ntd  h^  .1.  mnmnerable  elands  in  the  Polar  seas  are 
ZZ^  JJ^I  '""'  T'"  "^  P'-""'  «>™  °f  ^hieh  are  con! 
wmter  or  by  birds ;  while  a  stiU  larger  number  are  transport^ 

may  |»  carried  m  a  single  year  for  hundreds  of  mUes  A  neat 
body  of  geo  ogical  evidence  has  now  been  broughV  togethef  to 
some  of  which  I  have  adverted  in  a  former  chfpter  f  to  show 
e*mifbl„T^7  for  scattering  plants,  as  weU  as  f  r  ear^nl 
erratic  blocks  southward,  and  polishing  and  groovinff  the  floor  „f 
he  ancient  ocea^,  extended  in  the  wLem  hZXrt  t^bw^'^ 
latitudes  than  the  White  Mountains.  When  TeS  last  Tm 
constituted  islands,  in  a  sea  chilled  by  the  meU  ng  „fl,at'l 
we  may  assume  that  they  were  covered  entirel/by  3ike 

mountains.     As  the  continent  grew  by  the  slow  upheaval  of  the 

and,  and  the  islands  gained  in  height,  and  the  climararomd 

their  base  grew  milder,  the  Aretic  plants  would  retr^  to  wXr 

nrlbf  r.T'"'  "■"'  """"y  """W  »"  »l"ated  area!  which 
probably  had  been  at  first,  or  in  the  glacial  period,  always  coTe^d 

tie  bS?:rtt:"°"-    "--hUe  thenewly'-formU  pTSru^d 
the  base  of  the  mountain,  to  which  northern  species  of  nlants 

out  ZlZt  ^T  *"  ^""'^  "-^  °""'"  ^^atmgloSTh 

south,  and  perhaps  by  many  trees,  shrubs,  and  plants  then  first 

created,  and  remaining  to  this  day  peculiar  to  Nfrthlmt„a  " 

The  period  when  the  mite  Mountains  ceased  to  be  a  greup 

of  islands,  or  when,  by  the  emergence  of  the  surrounding Tw 

*  Ante,  p.  17. 
ProfeUr  Edw»r,l  p   t^  .  "i  ^"^"'^S^  ">  M  excellent  es4v  bv 

Me™r  ofor  s^rirG.:^:  ^:^.  ^'^,  --  ^''^ 


[Chap.  V. 

ashington, 
aake  their 
originally 
flowering 
sseminate 

seas  are 

are  con- 
frozen  in 
msported 
of  plants 

A  great 
ether,  to 

to  show 
carrying 

floor  of 
to  lower 
last  still 
ting  ice, 
lora  like 

of  the 
il  of  the 

around 
3  higher 
,  which 
covered 

around 
'  plants 
rom  the 
en  first 
irica.t 
I  group 
ng  low 


inges  in 
ssay  by 
i  Flora, 


Chap.  V.] 


GRANIiE  ROCKS 


19 


lands,  they  first  became  connected  with  the  continent,  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  of  very  modern  date,  geologically  speaking.     It  is, 
in  fact,  so  recent  as  to  belong  to  the  epoch  when  species  now 
contemporaneous  with  man  already  inhabited  this  planet.     But 
if  we  attempt  to  carry  our  retrospect  still  farther  into  the  past, 
and  to  go  back  to  the  date  when  the  rocks  themselves  of  the 
White  Mountains  originated,  we  are  lost  in  times  of  extreme 
antiquity.  "   No  light  is  thrown  on  this  inquiry  by  embedded 
organic  remainb,  of  which  the  strata  of  gneiss,  mica  schist,  clay- 
slate,    and  quartzite    are  wholly  devoid.      These   masses    are 
traversed  by  numerous  veins  of  granite  and  greenstone,  which 
aje  therefore  newer  than  the  stratified  crystalline  rocks  which 
they  intersect ;    and  the  abrupt  manner  in  which  these  veins 
terminate  at  the  surface  attests  how  much  denudation  or  removal 
by  water  of  solid  matter  has  taken  place.     Another  question  of 
a  chronological  kind  may  yet  deserve  attention,  namely,  the  epoch 
of  the  movements  which  threw  the  beds  of  gneiss  and  the  associ- 
ated rocks  into  their  present  bent,  disturbed,  and  vertical  positions. 
This  subject -is  also  involved  in  considerable  obscurity,  although 
it  seems  highly  probable  that  the  crystalline  strata  of  New  Hamp- 
shire acquired  their  internal  arrangement  at  the  same  time  as  the 
fossiliferous  beds  of  the  Appalachian  or  Alleghany  chain:  and 
we  know  that  they  assumed  their  actual  strike  and  dip  sub- 
sequently to  the  origin  of  the  coal  measures,  which  enter  so  largely 
into  the  structure  of  that  chain. 

From  Fabyan's  Inn,  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Washington,  we 
traveled  about  twenty-five  miles  westward  to  Bethlehem,  and 
thence  southward  to  the  Franconia  Notch,  a  deep  and  picturesque 
ravine  in  the  mountains  of  granite.  On  the  way  I  conversed 
with  the  driver  of  our  carriage  about  the  village  churches,  and, 
being  very  communicative,  he  told  me  he  was  a  Free-will  Baptist, 
but  had  only  become  a  Christian  five  years  ago,  when  he  was 
awakened  from  a  state  of  indifference  by  a  revival  which  took 
place  near  Bethlehem.  This  meeting,  he  said,  was  got  up  and 
managed  by  the  Methodists ;  but  some  Baptists,  and  one  ortho- 
dox (Independent  or  Congregationalist)  minister  had  assisted,  in 
all  sixteen  ministers,  and  for  twenty-one  days  in  succession  there 
VOL.  I. — D 


74 


REVIVAL  AT  BETHLEHEM. 


[Chap.  V. 


to  hear  of  the  umon  of  ministers  of  more  than  one  lenoS "^ 
on  this  occasion,  and,  on  inquiry,  was  told  by  a  Methodkt  tW 
no  Epiecopahans  would  join,  «.  because  they  do  not  sufficient 
rely  on  regeneration  and  the  new  man  "  I  ZJl  '"^  ,  ^ 
be  essential  to  tV,^  «ffl  ^x^-  •  ^  appears,  mdeed,  to 

moment  "to  receive  comfort,"  as  thev  term  it  or  tL.i 
ver«mn  mow  1.^  -„      j  j  "       ™  "•  °^  *"**  their  con- 

version may  be  as  sudden  as  was  that  of  St.  Paul.  A  Boston 
fnend  a^„red  me  that  when  he  once  attended  a  revivaTsTr^r 
he  heard  the  preacher  describe  the  symptoms  whirihev  S 
expect  to  experience  on  the  first,  secondhand  trrrday  S 

preao-er.      He  himself  is  TC^ld  .Ip  trsufhTUh' rf 

r4iS.."  *"  '"^  '™'  ^"  ■=»'-"-*--  "is  oXettel 

It  is  the  great  object  of  the  ministers  who  officiate  on  tl,«. 

occasions  to  keep  up  a  perpetual  excitement -Vurwhle  they  a  e 

My  Inead   the  driver,  was  evidently  one  of  a  slow  and  unexcif 
ab^  disposition,  and  had  been  led  for  the  first  timlin  his  iSto* 
thmk  seriously  on  religious  matters  by  what  he  hLT.V,^ 

Violent  stimulants  there  J:t:Z^:  Z^:T:^  '^ 


i 


Chap.  V.] 


MILLBRITE  MOVEMENT. 


7fi 


call  a  flat  or  dead  season.  The  emotions  are  so  strong  as  to 
exhaust  both  the  body  and  mind  ;  and  it  is  creditable  to  the  New 
England  clergy  of  all  sects,  that  they  have  in  general,  of  late 
years,  almost  entirely  discontinued  such  meetings. 

At  the  Franconia  hotel  I  first  heard  of  the  recent  fanatical 
movement  of  the  Millerites,  or  followers  of  one  Miller,  who  taught 
that  the  millennium,  or  final  destruction  of  the  world,  would 
come  to  pass  last  year,  or  on  the  23d  day  of  October,  1844.  A 
farmer  from  the  village  of  Lisbon  told  me  that,  in  the  course  of 
the  preceding  autumn,  many  of  his  neighbors  would  neither  reap 
their  harvest  of  Indian  com  and  potatoes,  nor  let  others  take  in 
the  crop,  saying  it  was  tempting  Providence  to  store  up  grain  for 
a  season  that  could  never  arrive,  the  gijat  catastrophe  being  so 
near  at  hand.  These  infatuated  people,  however,  exerted  them- 
selves very  diligently  to  save  what  remained  of  their  property 
when  the  non-fulfillment  of  the  prophecy  dispelled  their  delusion. 
In  several  townships  in  this  and  the  adjoining  States,  the  parochial 
officers,  or  "  select  men,"  interfered,  harvesting  the  crops  at  the 
public  expense,  and  requiring  the  owners,  after  the  23d  October, 
to  repay  them  for  the  outlay. 

t  afterward  heard  many  anecdotes  respecting  the  Millerite 
movement,  not  a  few  of  my  informants  speaking  with  marked 
indulgence  of  what  they  regarded  simply  as  a  miscalculation  of 
a  prophecy  which  must  be  accomplished  at  no  distant  date.  In 
the  township  of  Concord,  New  Hampshire,  I  was  told  of  an  old 
woman,  who,  on  paying  her  annual  rent  for  a  house,  said,  «'  I  guess 
this  is  the  last  rent  you  will  get  from  me."  Her  landlord  re- 
marked, "  If  so,  I  hope  you  have  got  your  robes  ready ;"  alluding 
to  the  common  practice  of  the  faithful  to  prepare  white  ascension 
Tobes,  "  for  going  up  into  heaven."  Hearing  that  there  had  been 
advertisements  from  shops  in  Boston  and  elsewhere  to  furnish 
any  number  of  these  robes  on  the  shortest  notice,  I  took  for  grant- 
ed that  they  were  meant  as  a  hoax ;  but  an  English  bookseller, 
residing  at  New  York,  assured  me  that  there  was  a  brisk  de- 
mand for  such  articles,  even  as  far  south  as  Philadelphia,  and 
that  he  knew  two  individuals  in  Npw  York,  who  sat  up  all  xiight 
m  their  shtouds  on  the  2  2d  of  Octooer. 


76 


MILLERITE  MOVEMENT. 


[Chap.  V. 

bufh«  chapja.tx;riz:d'"o?  '%'r™  ■"  "'^  '"•■»' = 

but  having  an  eve  to  thlnT'^  r  ,  T*  ""^S  »«  enthnriast, 
Treasury,"  ™,Tei^W^t""'  "^'^  «'>"™  into  ..the  Lord'^ 
were  drawing  h7mt  an  T    \'^l"""'^y  ^>^-  and  the  devil, 

exeiteme„r"L;aT„"wlnTr1  ^f"\  ^°  '''=^P  »?  ""' 
the  interest  of  this  irfnTr      ^"'^''^^'  ^"^  P-W^hed  in 

preachers  who  glv  Z^Zte^ZlIt  "'  "™""  ^'«'°*''' 
«on.  I  asked  L  artUrth^'T  f"  '""^'^  *°  *"  "^^'n- 
Massaohusetts,  whetherle  W  heLrlTalk"of\f™,{  ""  " 
in  his  district.  ..  Certainlv  "  1..  ^  ^  t  ^  ""*  miUennium 
jade  coming  down  t  '"^„l°"''i  "^  '""'""^^  »  ""^"ey 
some  smart  likerml  were  •  ^"Z  '"™''  ^°'"™'  »«  «™» 
And,  »i.»  the  lay  ^'s^s",  "^,1  ™?'.  •'^,  ^  P'^'X'hing. 

made  a  miscalcuUt'oZ  and  tha^  h?  S  7 f.  ""^  .'r^  '"'«' 
come  three  d.ivs  later  •  „„j    a     .v      ■      "  '""^  ^'^  would 

happen  in  th  y  a'  igi?  wwlh',  t"  '*  T  '"-'"^  '*  ™"W 
cause  all  the  v'e:Ll':L^::^J^,^''^l^-«r'.  - 
remamed  to  satisfy  the  prophecy  "  **  «™  a^one 

out'r  ;:tn;7;  °?".'  r-'-  -->  J-ouses  were  pointed 
owners  of  whtlTad  fcd   (^"r°'""°"=>  ^-^  ^»'°n,  the 
credulity,  haring  s^d  tW  at^        T.'^J"  '"^^'^^  h^  *''«' 
in  which  they  were  to  t«  Tnl       *f  ^"''^^  *■"  tabernacle, 
their  ascensiL      iLTother  r*'''  ^Vl  "''''*  P''™"»  *° 
not,  proved  to  m=  wl,  i.  /    j™'  '^'"'''''  ^'''"'«>'  «™e  or 
leaie^B.  I  tl:  t^id'raTu^/™   ^  T^'^  ^  »-  "^  the 
advised  to  sell  her  neckUeThSV^J  i    ™"®  "°  """^y'  ^as 
her  hetrothed.     ^ut^Aj^l'Tl^:  '"^'"*"*  '"  ■•»'  ''y 
at  parting  with  her  trZ„re  TnTl        *°  "^  '"'"'''  ^'''«"«' 
.ale,  showed  her  some  ^rVn^    d«covermg  the  object  of  the 

about  to  engrave  the  mI  St  ^"^  '^'^'  °»  ''^"^  ^^  ^as 


Chap.  V.] 


THE  TABERNACLE  AT  BOSTON. 


n 


pray,  and  "  go  up"  at  Boston ;  but,  as  it  was  intended  merely 
for  a  temporary  purpose,  the  fabric  would  have  been  very  slight 
and  insecure,  had  not  the  magistrates,  fearing  that  it  might  fall 
into  the  street  and  kill  some  of  the  passers-by,  interposed  in 
good  time,  and  required  the  architect  to  erect  a  substantial  edi- 
fice. When  the  society  of  the  Millerites  was  bankrupt,  this 
Tabernacle  was  sold  and  fitted  up  as  a  theater  ;  and  there,  in  the 
course  of  the  winter,  we  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Kean  perform  Macbeth.  Although  under  no  apprehensions  that 
the  roof  would  fall  in,  yet,  as  nil  the  seats  were  stuffed  with  hay, 
and  there  was  only  one  door,  we  had  some  conversation  during 
the  performance  as  to  what  might  be  our  chance  of  escape  in  the 
event  of  a  fire.  Only  a  few  months  later  the  whole  edifice  was 
actually  burned  to  the  ground,  but  fortunately  no  lives  were  lost. 
In  one  of  the  scenes  of  Macbeth,  where  Hecate  is  represented  as 
going  up  to  heaven,  and  singing,  "  Now  I'm  furnished  for  the 
flight — Now  I  fly,"  &c.,  some  of  our  party  told  us  they  were 
reminded  of  the  extraordinary  sight  they  had  witnessed  in  that 
room  on  the  23d  of  October  of  the  previous  year,  when  the  walla 
were  all  covered  with  Hebrew  and  Greek  texts,  and  when  a 
crowd  of  devotees  were  praying  in  their  ascension  robes,  in  hourly 
expectation  of  the  consummation  of  all  things. 

I  observed  to  one  of  my  New  England  friends,  that  the  num- 
ber of  Millerite  proselytes,  and  also  the  fact  that  the  prophet  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  Joseph  Smith,  could  reckon  at  the  lowest 
estimate  60,000  followers  in  the  United  States,  and,  according 
to  some  accounts,  120,000,  did  not  ^rgue  much  in  favor  of  the 
working  of  their  plan  of  national  education.  «•  As  for  the  Mor- 
mons," he  replied,  "you  must  bear  in  mind  that  they  were  largely 
recruited  from  the  manufacturing  districts  of  England  and  Wales, 
and  from  European  emigrants  recently  arrived.  They  were  drawn 
chiefly  from  an  illiterate  class  in  the  western  states,  where  so- 
ciety is  in  its  rudest  condition.  The  progress  of  the  Millerites, 
however,  although  confined  to  a  fraction  of  the  population,  re- 
flects undoubtedly  much  discredit  on  the  educational  and  religious 
training  in  New  England;  but  since  the  year  1000,  when  all 
Christendom  believed  that  the  world  was  to  come  to  an  end 


[('hap.  V 

witings  of  Croly,  and  oven  Im!  ?  >  •  ^"P'"""«».  ""d  the 
view,  helped  for  a  Z«  IL  ""^  "!'.°'''  '"  'he  Quarterly  Re- 
fashionable.  But  thrMUlS  "''  ""'  °P'"'  ''»"'•  «»<•  ■»«'ke  it 
bition  of  the  Holy  Coat  a  T^    "T"";"*'  "''«  *»  '»"«  «h'- 

™ve„e„t  have  advt^  Zl^  of'^th -^^'ijf  J"""'"^ 

z  wiCo^c^ehr/Ttt '"  °-  "^  *«  "---■ 

lerite  opimens,  by  ,1^(2 ''  ?.'?  ''".'™'^'  »g»™'  *«  Mil- 
doubtsioneralyemeLT^rbv.ht,  '  T'"'  ^''°  '^P'-^-'d  "-o 
date,  of  the  propheeierof  nw  ?        ""^  '"  "^"^  '»  «"»«  »f  the 

troversies  abo'u.'^^ir^/al  ilt?  "1  'r'^"'"  "«'■'"»  -=««■ 
tament,  and  referred  f„     '""P'f™  "^^  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 

British  and  N:;XlandT:thi  "\T?'  ""*''  "'  «»»». 
never  heart  of  till  .hi  Nof!!  Vl.''''  oongregation  had 
they  had  been  so  W  kent  S  tb^  ^«\°'^  *em  eomplained  that 
have  entertained  mZTth^  "''■  ^'  *''"''  "■»«'«  »«t 
had  now  revealedThTm  t  ordS  Hr  .^^  '"'■°^'  ='»''  *"«  >>« 
delusion,  and  for  expediency  ™.^   T^    /  °''"'"'  of  a  popular 

."Never,"  »id  theyT.t:^ett  "S  ""  '""  °''/"*- 
m  him  again."  P"*  *^®  "s^nie  confidenpe 

Other  apologists  observed  to  me  that  «o  ln« 
population  was  very  ignorant  e^nit      ^^   T^  ^'  ^  P^''*  ^^  *^« 
Bionally  participato^nTnatL;  m^^^^^  T" ^^  -- 

thusiasm,  bein?  vprv  r.nr,to  •         '"^^ements  ,   «« for  religious  en- 

first  attaks  IsHho  arfsrr^'rt'r  ?  ''^™»'  ''-'•  -"icl 
of  the  healthiest  anTbestldS  ^"^»'*™■^d  ^ects  some 
ty"  This  explanatirptfult  ?  '  ""  *°  '''"''»  '='»"™'""- 
pear,  is,  I  beheye,  a  Slfoy  1.  T  TT"'  «'  '*  '"''^  "P" 
sbhool  and  college  and  ha™  w  J  ^  '''"'  ''"''  S^™'  through 
tening  to  P-aehUtcot^'^ttsT;!"  i*'''/^''"  "^'^ 

--i».  '■-not  beenXt  t^h^  h^ ^  L:?:^-- 


Ohap.  v.] 


NEW  ENGLAND  FANATICISM. 


79 


habits  of  judging  and  thinking  for  themselves  ;  in  faci,  they  are 
ill  educated.  Instead  of  being  told  that  it  is  their  duty  care- 
fully to  investigate  historical  evidence  for  themselves,  and  to 
cherish  an  independent  frame  of  mind,  they  have  probably  been 
brought  up  to  think  that  a  docile,  submissive,  and  child-like  def- 
erence to  the  authority  of  churchmen  is  the  highest  merit  of  a 
Christian.  They  have  perhaps  heard  much  about  the  pride  of 
philosophy,  and  how  all  human  learning  is  a  snare.  In  mat- 
ters connected  with  religion  they  have  been  accustomed  blindly 
to  resign  themselves  to  the  guidance  of  others,  and  hence  are 
prepared  to  yield  themselves  up  to  the  influence  of  any  new  pre- 
tender to  superior  sanctity  who  is  a  greater  enthusiast  than 
themselves. 


•'#!• 


I\ 


CHAPTER  VI. 

'    '^rS^::::XZ^^^  -'^  ^-^^-^  -CoanUon  of 

-Legislators  paidlwTn  a  D^^^^^^^^^  °^  Wealth 

and  the  City.— Pled.ros  If  pint;  t'^^~^°''*'''^  '^  the  Country 

in  a  Stage  Lach  -R^tl^  I'Tho"  WhiTM    «"«:-=--Adventu?e 

logical   Discussions   of  Terri^l      T  "'^'''  Churches. -Theo- 
Post-Office  Abuses.-Lowell  FactS      ^"■^'"P"''""""   Movement.- 

Oct.  10    1845 — During  our  stay  in  the  WhitP  M      .  • 

station."  I  asked  if  he  tLr^Ai  ^  ■""='"  '"''""S  '»  ">«  '"'"'> 
ful  to  the.  guests  it  ttel:™:;^^^  7"^  "  '«'»'"■ 
^'ciety.     .. Probably  they  arHo"  C L,  ^  .°  '^'''"'  '" 

as  the  sea...  i,  „„;  ^.^^^^  in  tl^Z^oLi"""- r ''"''"• 
that  these  ffentlemen  wl„>  „    .  I!  mountains,  I  presume 

very  soon  i/du,  t^r^^siS  rt!™  tLT Lr  ^{  '■^"'  ""' 
curs  on  themselves  "     TT«  +1,         recreation,  and  make  some  ex- 

the  two  iaai^r  .  ^le^f  :rS  riTarof;  ^'* 

Lt.o™^rrtrtr'had  r '^  ■•  r  -^  — f 

read  good^ookTand  e„t  J  enl  H  '''"  *r^'?'  "  ^'=''«>''  ^ad 
well  as  ourselve  ,  .  It  is  „„ TLn  ,7^  ^"^'^  ""'""y  "^ 
he.  "to  sit  on  terms  of  00!^  T"?""'™  *° '■■■^"'•"  ^^i 
dressed  in  their  S  ekthTt^f"^^  *'"'  ''''■'"  ''"^  «"'*^- 
meeting-house  "  T  eomnl  !,? ,  j  ,  ■  °^  '*'*'''  '"  ""  ""hodox 
tice  the  imeriean  thrv  7         . '"""  °"  "^"y'^g  °»'  ^  prac- 

-d,  .  Yes.  but  you  must  not  forgetThe"  lllot^^^X^, 


Chap.  VI.] 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND. 


8j 


blood  in  their  veins."  I  remarked,  that  I  had  always  inferred 
from  the  books  of  English  travelers  in  the  United  States,  that 
domestic  service  was  held  as  somewhat  of  a  degradation  in  New 
England.  "  I  remember  the  time,"  he  answered,  "  when  such 
an  idea  was  never  entertained  by  any  one  here  ;  but  servants 
formerly  used  to  live  with  their  master  and  mistress,  and  have 
their  meals  at  the  same  table.  Of  late  years,  the  custom  of 
boarding  separately  has  gained  ground,  and  work  in  factories  is 
now  preferred.  These  are  so  managed,  that  the  daughters  of 
farmers,  and  sometimes  of  our  ministers,  look  upon  them  as  most 
respectable  places,  where  in  three  or  four  years  they  may  earn  a 
small  sum  toward  their  dowry,  or  which  may  help  to  pay  off  a 
mortgage  or  family  debt." 

As,  during  our  stay  here,  the  tone   of  the  newspapers  from 
Washington  was  somewhat  bellicose,  and  we  wore  proposing  to 
make  a  tour  of  eight  months  in  the  southern  states,  I  asked  my 
legal  companion  whether  he  was  really  apprehensive  of  a  war 
about  Oregon.      "  No,"  he  said,  "  there  may  be  big  words  and 
much  blustering,  and  perhaps,  before  the  storm  blows  over,  a 
war  panic  ;  but  there  will  be  no  rupture  with  England,  because 
it  is  against  the  interest  of  the  slave-owners ;  for  you  know,  I 
presume,  that  we  are  governed  by  the  South,  and  our  southern 
cnivalry  will  put  their  veto  on  a  war  of  which  they  would  have 
to  bear  the  brunt."     "  If,"  said  I,  "  you  are  ruled  by  the  slave- 
owning  states,  you  may  thank  yourselves  for  it,  the  numerical, 
physical,  intellectual,  and  moral  power  being  on  the  side  of  the 
free  states.     Why  do  you  knock  under  to  them  ?"      '<  You  may 
well  ask  that  question,"  he  replied ;   "  and,  as  a  foreigner,  may 
not   easily  be   made  to  comprehend  the   political  thralldom  in 
which  we,  the  majority  of  northerners,  are  still  held,  but  which 
can  not,  I  think,   last  much  longer.     Hitherto  the  southern 
planters  have  had  more  leisures  to  devote  to  politics  than  our 
small  farmers  or  merchants  in  the  north.      They  are  banded  to- 
gether as  one  man  in  defense  of  what  they  call  their  property 
and  institutions.      They  have  a  high  bearing,  which,  in  Con- 
gress, often  imposes  on  northern  men  much  superior  to  them  in 
real  talent,  knowledge,  and  strength  of  character.     They  are 


n\ 


89 


OSTRACISM  OF  WEALTH.  [Qh*,.  VI 


li 


if  ':; 


oilen  eloquent,  and  have  much  political  tact  ~Za  },„„„  r  ~*7~ 
been  caj„h,d  „,„  the  adoption  of  that  measure  •■'  '  '^  ''*™ 

youM:„;tt^7:;^^':  vr 'or,:  r^-r  "•"  =«  -^ 

-li^respeet  and  inUdenee  to  Ir;  T:Zy'ZirCt 

^C'^Vnlrs  =;  r.rtet:f:h:'d-rth: 

lected  lor  the  highest  honors  in  his  profession  " 

1  next  told  my  friend  that,  when  travdinrr  in  Maine  T  h.A 
asked  a  gentleman  why  his  neighbor  Mr    7  ^     '  T  ^"^ 

always  to  vote  with  my  firat  floor"     ••  I  presum^thlf   Y. 
migrated  to  New  Hampshire  or  Maine,  he  Cldvete  witi  h 
garret,  instead  of  his  first  floor  '"  *  *"' 

tl.0  upper  hand  here'as  in  ^L^'  T^^Ti^^:,  ^JX?"^  'r 
a  homage  to  the  dominant  party 'on  i^lL^TZlZ^Lt 


Jhap.  VI.] 


LEGISLATORS  PAID. 


8» 


he  did  to  the  aristocracy  of  wealth  in  your  country.  Do  you 
desire  to  see  our  people  regard  wealth  as  a  leading  qualification 
for  their  representatives  ?" 

"  Surely,"  said  I,  "  it  is  an  evil  that  men  of  good  abilities,  ot 
leisure,  and  independent  station,  who  have  had  the  best  means 
of  obtaining  a  superior  education,  should  be  excluded  from  public 
life  by  that  envy  which  seems  to  have  so  rank  a  growth  in  a 
democracy,  owing  to  the  vain  efforts  to  realize  a  theory  of  equal- 
ity. It  must  be  a  defect  in  your  system,  if  there  is  no  useful 
career  open  to  young  men  of  fortune.  Theiy  are  often  rained,  1 
hear,  for  want  of  suitable  employments." 

«'  There  are,"  he  said,  "  comparatively  few  of  them  in  the 
United  States,  where  the  law  of  primogeniture  no  longer  pre- 
vails ;  and  if  we  have  good-for-nothing  individuals  among  them, 
it  is  no  more  than  may  be  said  of  your  own  aristocracy."     He 
then  named  an  example  or  two  of  New  Englanders,  >yho,  haying 
inherited  considerable  property,  had  yet  risen  to  political  distinc- 
tion, and  several  more  (four  of  whom  I  myself  knew),  who, 
having  made  large  fortunes  by  their  talents,  had  been  members 
either  of  the  State  Legislature  of  Massachusetts  or  of  Congress. 
He  did  not,  however,  deny  that  it  is  often  good  policy,  in  an 
election,  for  a  rich  candidate  to  affect  to  be  poorer  than  he  is. 
"  Every  one  of  our  representatives,"  he  added,  *'  whether  in  the 
State  Legisk.tures  or  in  Congress,  receives  a  certain  sum  daily 
when  on  duty,  besides  more  than  enough  traveling  money  for 
carrying  him  to  his  post  and  home  again.     In  choosing  a  dele- 
gate, therefore,  the  people  consider  themselves  as  patrons  who 
are  giving  away  a  place ;  and  if  an  opulent  man  offers  himself, 
they  are  disposed  to  Say,  '  You  have  enough  already,  let  us  help 
some  one  as  good  as  you  who  needs  it.'  " 

During  my  subsequent  stay  in  New  England,  I  often  con- 
versed with  men  of  the  working  classes  on  the  same  subject,  and 
invariably  found  that  they  had  made  up  their  mind  that  it  was 
not  desirable  to  choose  representatives  from  the  wealthiest  class. 
"The  rich,"  they  say,  "have  less  sympathy  with  our  opinions 
and  feelings ;  love  their  amusements,  and  go  shooting,  fishing, 
and  traveling  ;  keep  hospitable  houses,  and  are  inaccessible  when 


84 


GENERAL  JACKSON'S  POLICY. 


[Chap.  VL 

tradesmen  XC  if  mTb  Ifadt  ""^^  °'  ^"^  ^"^'^"^ 
came  into  a  large  fortune  ^hfo^gfru^tf:  aTrht^V^"' 

:fr.t'reUt^~'''f^^^^ 
»iWt;^Ttfwa:i]5-r^^^      S 

That  there  i./«I  a  X;  takttf  "'  *'"°  "''''''''''■ 

inff  words  -Tt"  ,1  1   V      ''"?  '"'  °^*^^^^  ^  ^^^^e  the  follow- 
&  woras  ,  "  1  must  deeline  ffivinff  a  dirp^f  ror.!?,  *  .). 

questions;  my  general  conduct  ^^d  charaotefira  2-'''"'''° 

aTL'^ririfthrr  t^^  ™'^^  -~:d^»«e"s' 

laratioro'pu^XhTtoT:""*''--.  -  P^edgesl  dec 


Chap.  VI.] 


UNIVERSAL  SUFFRAGE. 


85 


farmers,  mechanics,  and  laborers  that  they  constituted  the  people, 
were  the  bone  and  sinew  of  the  country,  the  real  possessors  of  the 
national  wealth,  although  in  their  hands  it  is  subdivided  into 
small  shares ,  and  he  told  them  it  was  their  business  to  make  a 
constant  eftbrt  to  maintain  their  rights  against  the  rich  capitalists 
and  moneyed  corporations,  who,  by  facilities  of  combining  together, 
could  usually  make  their  own  class  interests  prevail  against  a 
more  numerous  body,  and  one  possessed  in  the  aggregate  of  greater 
wealth. 

It  seems  that  they  were  not  slow  in  taking  this  advice,  for 
many  merchants  complained  to  me  that  the  small  farmers  had 
too  great  an  ascendency.  No  feature,  indeed,  appeared  to  me 
more  contrasted  in  the  political  aspect  of  America  and  Great 
Britain  than  this,  that  in  the  United  States  the  democracy  derives 
its  chief  support  from  the  landed  interest,  while  the  towns  take 
the  more  conservative  side,  and  are  often  accused  by  the  landed 
proprietors  of  being  too  aristocratic.  Every  where  the  ambition 
of  y  cumulating  riches  without  limit  is  so  manifest,  as  to  incline 
me  to  adopt  the  opinion  expressed  to  me  by  several  rich  Boston 
friends,  that  wealth  has  in  this  country  quite  as  many  charms, 
and  corfers  as  much  distinction  and  influence,  as  it  ought  to  do. 
If  a  rich  Englishman  came  to  fettle  here,  he  would  be  disappointed 
on  finding  that  money  gave  him  no  facilities  in  taking  a  lead  in 
politics ;  but  the  affluent  natives  do  not  pine  for  influence  which 
they  never  possessed  or  expected  to  derive  from  their  riches. 

The  great  evil  of  universal  suffrage  is  the  irresistible  temptation 
it  affords  to  a  needy  set  of  adventurers  to  make  politics  a  trade, 
and  to  devote  all  their  time  to  agitation,  electioneering,  and  flat- 
tering the  passions  of  the  multitude.  The  natural  aristocracy 
of  a  republic  consists  of  the  most  eminent  men  in  the  liberal 
professions — lawyers,  divines,  and- physicians  of  note,  merchants 
in  extensive  business,  literary  and  scientific  men  of  celebrity ;  and 
men  of  all  these  classes  are  apt  to  set  too  high  a  value  on  their 
time,  to  be  willing  to  engage  in  the  strife  of  elections  perpetually 
going  on,  and  in  which  they  expose  themselves  to  much  calumny 
and  accusations,  which,  however  unfounded,  are  professionally 
injurious  to  them.     The  richer  citizens,  who  might  be  more  in- 


86 


ADVENTURE  IN  A  STAGE-COACH.  [Chap.  VI. 

dependent  of  such  attacks,  love  their  ease  or  their  hooks,  and  from 
indolence  often  abandon  the  field  to  the  more  ignorant  11^ 
met  w.th  many  optimists  who  declared  that  whenever  the  Country 
IS  threater#d  with  any  great  danger  or  disgrace,  there  is  a  ri^ht^ 
minded  majonty  whose  energies  can  be  roused  effectively  fnto 
actzon.  Nevertheless,  the  sacrifices  required  on  such  Iccas Lns 
to  work  upon  the  popular  mind  are  so  ^eat.  that  the  fie  d  Tn 
danger  of  t,emg  left  open,  on  all  ordinary  occasions,  to  the  dl" 

of  l^!r  ^  Tf'  these  and  other  objections  against  the  working 
of  their  repubhcan  institutions,  I  was  sometimes  told  that  ey2 
po htical  system  has  its  inherent  vices  and  defects,  that  the  7^ 
will  soon  be  mitigated  by  the  removal  of  ignorance  and  the  im 
proved  education  of  the  many.     Sometimel  instead  of  al  ar^. 
ment,  they  would  ask  me  whether  any  of  the  British  colonies  f^e 
more  prosperous  in  commerce,  manufactures,  or  agriculture  or  are 
doing  as  much  to  promote  good  schools,  as  some  eL  ofTelr  most 
democratic  states,  such  as  New  Hampshire  and  .'Taine  '      -Te 
our  institutions,"  they  said,  "  be  judged  of  by  their  fruits."     To 
eueh  an  appeal,  an  Englishman  as  much  struck  as  Ihad  bee," 
^a    he  recent  progre^  of  things  i„  those  very  districts,  and 
with  the  general  happiness,  activity,  and  contentment  of  all 
classes  eould  only  respond  by  echoing  the  sentiment  of  the  Chan 
ccUor  Oxenstiem,  ..  Quam  parva  sapienti4  mundus  gubernatur"      ' 
How  great  must  be  the  amount  of  misgovernment  in  the  wo  id 
m  general,  if  a  democracy  hke  this  can  deserve  to  rank  so  hi"h 
m  the  comparative  scale  !  * 

„  ^f'  ?°'^^",l''°  "^^°  ""^"^^  'w'ween  Franconia  and  Ply- 
mouth,  in  New  Hampshire,  we  were  at  first  the  only  insMe 
passengers;  but  about  half  way  we  met  on  the  road  two  me„ 
and  two  women,  respectably  dressed,  who  might,  we  thought  h"ve 
come  from  some  of  the  sea-ports.     They  made  a  bargain  wlh  the 
driver  to  give  them  inside  seats  at  a  cheap  rate.     As  we  were 
annoyed  by  the  freedom  of  their  manners  and  conversation  iTold 
the  coachman,  when  we  stopped  to  change  horses,  that  we  had 
a  right  to  protection  against  the  admission  of  company  at  hair 
price,  and.  rf  they  went  on  further,  I  must  go  on  the'ouLd   w^th 


Chap.  VI.]    RETURN  FROM  THE  WHITE  MOUNTAINS. 


87 


my  wife.  He  immediately  apologized,  and  went  up  to  the  two 
young  men  and  gave  them  their  choice  to  take  their  seats  behind 
him  or  be  left  on  the  road.  To  my  surprise,  they  quietly  acce^ited 
the  former  alternative.  The  ladies,  for  the  first  half  mile,  were 
mute,  then  burst  out  into  a  fit  of  laughter,  amused  at  the  ludicrous 
position  of  their  companions  on  the  outside,  who  were  sitting  in  a 
pelting  rain.  They  afterward  behaved  with  decorum,  and  I. 
mention  the  incident  because  it  was  the  only  unpleasant  adven- 
ture of  the  kind  which  we  experienced  in  the  course  of  all  our 
travels  in  the  United  States.  In  general,  there  is  no  country 
where  a  woman  could,  with  so  much  comfort  and  security,  under 
take  a  long  journey  alone. 

As  we  receded  from  the  mountains,  following  the  banks  of  the 
river  Pemigewasset,  the  narrow  valley  widened  gradually,  till, 
first,  a  small,  grassy,  alluvial  flat,  and,  at  length,  some  cultivated 
fields,  intervened  between  the  stream  and  the  boundary  rocks  of 
mica  schist  and  granite.      Occasionally  the  low  river-plain  was 
separated   from  the  granite  by  a  terrace  of  sand   and   gravel. 
Usually  many  boulders,  with  a  few  large  detached  blocks,  some 
of  them  nine  feet  in  diameter,  were  strev/ed  over  the  granite 
rocks.      These,  as  generally  throughout  New  England,  break 
out  here  and  there,  from  beneath  their  covering  of  drift,  in  smooth 
bosses,  or  rounded,  dome-shaped  forms,  called  in  the  Alps  "  roches 
moutonnees."      The  contrast  is  very  picturesque  between   the 
level  and  fertile  plain  and  the  region  of  lichen-covered  rock,  or 
sterile,  quartzose  sand,  partially  clothed  with  the  native  forest, 
now  in  its  autumnal  beauty,  and  lighted  up  by  a  bright  sun. 
On  the  flat  ground  bordering  the  river,  we  passed  many  wagons 
laden  with  yellow  heads  of  Indian  corn,  over  which  were  piled 
many  a  huge  pumpkin  of  a  splendid  reddish  orange  color.      These 
vehicles  were  drawn  by  oxen,  with  long  horns   spreading  out 
horizontally. 

We  stopped  for  the  night  in  an  inland  village  on  which  the 
maritime  name  of  Plymouth  has  been  bestowed.  Here  we  spent 
a  Sunday.  There  were  two  meeting-houses  in  the  place,  one 
Cougregational  and  the  other  Methodist,  which  shared  between 
them,  in  nearly  equal  proportions,  the  whole  population  of  the 


88 


PLYMOUTH,  NEW  HAMPSHIRE.  [Chas- 


VI 

township.      We  went"  with  our  landlord  first  to  oneT  and  then' 

mini  iTdT  ''  ^'^  °*'^^'    ^^^'  «^™^  ^^^^^^  ab'ouTsev'nty 
minutes,  and  they  were  so  arranged  that  the  first  began  at  half- 

past  ten,  and  the  second  ended  at  two  o'cloek,  for  the  convenie^e 

of  the  country  people,  who  came  in  vehicles  of  aU  kindlZny 

of  them  from  great  distances.    The  reading,  singing,  and  irS 

ng  would  certainly  not  suffer  by  compariL  with '  the  a^v^ge 

Endand"  X    T"'''  -  churches  of  the   Establishment  fn 
i^ngland.      The  discourse  of  the  Methodist,  delivered   fluentlv 

awake  ,    and  once,  when  my  own   thoughts  were   wandermc 

tion--whether,  if  some  intimate  friend,  whom  we  had  lost 
hould  return  to  us  from  the  world  of  apirits,  his  message  would 
produce  more  effect  on  our  minds  than  did  the  raising  of  Lalams 
on  the  Jews  of  old  ?  He  boldly  affirmed  that  it  would  not  I 
began  to  think  how  small  would  be  the  sensation  created  by  a 
miracle  performed  in  the  present  day  in  Syria  and  many  Eastern 
countries,  especially  in  Persia,  where  they  believe  in  the  power, 
ol  their  own  holy  men  occasionally  to  raise  persons  from  the  dead 

Jewrr;r>.  *r  ^'^  5^*  ^^  ^^^  ^"^^^-^  >  -^^  how  readu"  "e 
Jews  of  old  beh.ved  m  departures  from  the  ordinary  course  of 
nat-e,  by  the  intervention  of  evil  spirits  or  the  powe'r  oTmagi^' 

his  doctrine  was  true,  that  a  voice  or  sign  from  Heaven  would 
no  more  deter  men  from  sinning,  than  do  the  clear  dictatl  of 
their  consciences,  m  spite  of  which  they  yield  to  temptation 

In  the  evening  I  walked  on  a  roofed  wooden  bridge,  resem- 
bhng  many  m  Switzerland,  which  here  spans  the  Pemig^was''^ 
and  the  keeper  of  it  told  me  how  the  whole  river  is  frozerover 
in  winter,  but  the  ice  being  broken  by  the  falls  abovr/oes  n 

T\TJ  '^  "^^'-     ^'  ^^''  ^^l^t-d  how  his  grlndflth" 
who  had  lived  to  be  an  old  man,  had  gone  up  the  rifer  S  an 

battle  at  the  forks  above,  where  the  Indians  were  defeated  after 
great  slaughter  on  both  ddes.  aeieated,  after 

On  entering  the  stage  coach  the  next  morning,  on  our  way 


Chap.  VI.J 


THEOLOGICAL  DISCUSSION. 


89 


south,  we   had   two   inside  fellow-travelers  with  us.      One  of 
them  was  a  blacksmith  of  Boston,  and  the  other  a  glover  of 
Plymouth.      After  conversing  on  the  price  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments, they  fell  into  a  keen  controversy  on  several  biblical  ques- 
tions.     After  mentioning  instances  of  great  longevity  in  New 
Hampshire,  the  glover  raised  the  question,  whether  the  antedi- 
luvian patriarchs  really  lived  seven  or  eight  centuries,  or  wheth- 
er, as  he  supposed,  we  were  to  take  these  passages  in  a  "  myth- 
ical sense."     "  For  his  part,  he  thought  we  might,  perhaps,  in- 
terpret them  to  mean  that  the  family  stock,  or  dynasty,  of  a  par- 
acular  patriarch,  endured  for  those  long  periods."     He  also  went 
on  to  say,  that  the  Deluge  did  not  cover  the  highest  mountains 
literally,  but  only  figuratively.     Against  these  latitudinarian  no- 
tions the  blacksmith  strongly  protested,  declaring  his  faith  in  the 
literal  and  exact  interpretation  of  the  sacred  record,  but  at  the 
same  time  treating  his  antagonist  as  one  who  had  a  right  to  m- 
dulge  his  own  opinions.     As  soon  as  there  was  a  pause  in  the 
conversation,  I  asked  them  if  they  approved  c^  a  frequent  change 
of  ministers,  such  as  I  found  to  prevail  in  New  England — the 
Methodists  remaining  only  two  years,  and  the  Congregationalists 
only  four  or  six  at  the  utmost,  in  one  parish.     They  seemed 
much  surprised  to  learn  from  me,  that  in  England  we  thought  a 
permanent  relation  between  the  pastor  and  his  flock  to  be  nat- 
ural and  desirable.     Our  people,  they  observed,  are  fond  of  va- 
riety, and  there  would  always  be  danger,  when  they  grew  tired 
of  a  preacher,  of  their  runring  after  others  of  a  different  s^et. 
"  Besides,"  said  the  blacksmith,  "  how  are  they  to  keep  up  with 
the  reading  of  the  day,  and  improve  their  minds,  if  they  remain 
forever  in  one  town  ?     They  have  first  their  parish  duties,  then 
they  are  expected  to  write  two  new  sermons  every  week,  usually 
referring  to  some  matters  of  interest  of  the  day  ;  but  if  they  have 
a  call  to  a  new  parish,  they  not  only  gain  new  ideas,  but  much 
leisure,  for  they  may  then  preach  over  again  their  old  sermons." 
He  then  told  me  that  he  had  not  visited  Ne\/  Hampshire  for 
ten  year     .     -  vvas  much  struck  with  the  reform  which,  in  tnat 
Uitei-val,  (hr-  'emperance  movement  had  worked  i  i  the  hotels  and 
habits  of  ihc  people.     Mr.  Mason,  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Boston, 


1 


90 


POST^FFICB  ABUSES. 


[Chap.  VI 

since  (lead,  with  whom  I  afterward  sDoke  on  *hl  ^TT"" 

mformed  me  that  much  strongl  LLuL  had  b!'^""  I  '"*' 

the  magistrates  ^rrnllth^    7:^  thr^'^  t^ 
limits  no  hcenses  should  be  granted       «  Tml^f  T .        ^'"'^ 

England.  "e^irtlLdrrl^;^  oXr/"  T'^  ^™" 
that  the  nnsf  V    .  u    1  1^    ^  post-olhce,  where  they  told  us 

salt  rl  lettt  „fZ.T  ^^r^  *°  ^™""* '"  Ma.! 

this  place!  slTu2:T':X::i;^^^T  '"^^'n- 
m^rt  .„™  Lt"„te  .t"^""'  ^''^"f  opposite  o;:z. 


Chap.  VI.] 


LOWELL  FACTORIES. 


:ii 


men,  were  those  of  Whigs,  In  short,  the  mail,  like  the  cabinet 
at  Washington,  had  to  go  out  of  its  way  to  hunt  up  a  respectable 
democrat,  and  he,  when  found,  has  to  learn  a  new  craft.  By 
leaving  such  places  to  the  patronage  of  each  state,  this  class  of 
abuses  would  be  much  lessened. 

Oct.  14 Next  morning   we  received   all   our  letters   from 

England,  only  a  fortnight  old,  and  had  time  to  travel  seventy- 
five  miles  by  railway  to  Boston  before  dark.     When  I  took  out 
the  tickets  they  told  me  we  had  no  time  to  lose,  saying,  "Be  as 
spry  as  you  can,"  meaning  "  quick,"  "  active."     From  the  cars 
we  saw  the  Merrimack  at  the  rapids,  foaming  over  the  granite 
rocks ;   and,  when  I  reflected  on  the  extent  of  barren  country 
all  round  us,  and  saw  many  spaces  covered  with  loose,  moving 
sands,  like  the  dunes  on  the  coast,  I.  could  not  help  admiring  the 
enterprise  and  industry  which  has  created  so  much  wealth  in 
this  wilderness.     We  were  told  of  the  sudden  increase  of  the 
new  town  of  Manchester,  and  passed  Lowell,  only  twenty-five 
years  old,  with  its  population  of  25,000   inhabitants,  and  its 
twenty-four  churches  and  religious  societies.      Some  of  the  man- 
ufacturing companies  here  have  given  notice  that  they  will  em 
ploy  no  one  who  does  not  attend  divine  worship,  and  whose  char 
acter  is  not  strictly  moral.     Most  of  the   9000  factory  girls  of 
this  place,  concerning  whom  so  much  has  been  written,  ought 
not  to  be  compared  to  those  of  England,  as  they  only  remain  five 
or  six  years  in  this  occupation,  and  are  taken  in  general  from  a 
higher  class  in  society.      Bishop   Potter,  in  his  work  entitled 
"  The  School,"  tells  us  (p.  1 19)  "  that  in  the  Boott  factory  there 
were  about  950  young  women  eniployed  for  five  and  a  half  years, 
and  that  only  one  case  was  known  of  an  illegitimate  birth,  and 
then  the  mother  was  an  Irish  emigrant." 

I  was  informed  by  a  fellow-traveler  that  the  joint-stock  com- 
panies of  Lowell  have  a  capital  of  more  than  two  millions  ster- 
ling invested.  "  Such  corporations,"  he  said,  "  are  too  aristo- 
cratic for  our  ideas,  and  can  combine  to  keep  down  the  price  of. 
wages."  But  one  of  the  managers,  in  reply,  assured  me  that 
the  competition  of  rival  factories  is  great,  and  the  work-people 
pass  freely  from  one  company  to  another,  being  only  required  to 


LOWELL  FACTORIES. 


97  „ 

IOhap,  VI. 

by  the  operative,,  as  «„L  ofThel  were  wTi'.         ^^™  ^''^ 
servants.     Bv  this  8v«f,m  ,1,  ,  ^  ""  °™  domestic 

looking  on  the  master  ml  .f°  T  P"'''^  "°  P""'™'^'  <■«"» 
class,  Lving  <^S?' "rf""'"^"  »=  '«l™gi^  to  a  distinct 

small  sharef  have  ^  1  TTh  T  "'°''/""-  ^'""^  '«"''«"  °f 
answerable  for  the  deh  f  „f  1^'"^?/'^  P'""'"'  """  «'«  »ot 
porits.    They   an  ex Ite  IlHh  ostabhshment  beyond  their  de- 

i»  a  public  stXe~he.f  aff:ir°""''  '""""^''-  "■""■-  -« 

recfl^inX";  rndTotS  SeV  e'  1°  7"  T'  '"°'''»^"  -" 
two  and  a  half  dollars  X(S:f:'l:f,TeJT  "'''"'  """ 


CHAPTER  VII. 


/"lymouth,  Massachusetts. — Plymouth  Beach. — Marine  Shells. — Quicksand, 
— Names  of  Pilgrim  Fathers. — Forefathers'  Day. — Pilgrim  Relics.— 
Their  Authenticity  considered. — Decoy  Pond. — A  Barn  Traveling. — 
Excursion  to  Salem. — Museum. — Warrants  for  Execution  of  Witches. — 
Causes  of  the  Persecution. — Conversation  with  Colored  Abolitionists. — 
Comparative  Capacity  of  White  and  Negro  Races. — Half  Breeds  and 
Hybrid  Intellects. 

Oct.  15,  1845 — After  spending  a  day  in  Boston,  we  set 
jut  by  stage  for  Plymouth,  Massachusetts,  thirty-eight  miles  in 
a  southwest  direction,  for  I  wished  to  see  the  spot  where  the 
Pilgrim  Fathers  landed,  and  where  the  first  colony  was  founded 
in  New  England.  In  the  suburbs  of  Boston  we  went  through 
some  fine  streets  called  the  South  Cove,  the  houses  built  on  piles, 
where  I  had  seen  a  marsh  only  three  years  ago.  It  Avas  a  bright 
day,  and,  as  we  skirted  the  noble  bay,  the  deep  blue  sea  was  seen 
enlivened  with  the  white  sails  of  vessels  laden  with  granite  from 
the  quarries  of  Quincy,  a  village  through  which  we  soon  after- 
ward passed. 

When  we  had  journeyed  eighteen  miles  into  the  country  I 
was  told  we  were  in  Adams-street,  and  afterward,  when  in  a 
winding  lane  with  trees  on  each  side,  and  without  a  house  in 
sight,  that  we  were  in  Washington-street.  But  nothing  could 
surprise  me  again  after  having  been  told  one  day  in  New  Hamp- 
shire, when  seated  on  a  rock  in  the  midst  of  the  wild  \TOodfc,  far 
from  any  dwelling,  that  I  was  in  the  exact  center  of  the  town. 
"  God  made  the  country,  and  man  mado  the  town," 

sang  the  poet  Cowper  :  and  I  can  well  imagine  how  the  village 
pupils  must  be  puzzled  until  the  meaning  of  this  verse  has  been 
expounded  to  them  by  the  schoolrhaster. 

On  the  whole,  the  scenery  of  the  low  granitic  region  bordering 
the  Atlantic  in  New  England  preserves  a  uniform  character  over 
a  wide  space,  and  is  without  striking  features ;  yet  occasionally 
the  landscape  is  most  agreeable.     At  one  time  wo  skirted  a 


91 


PLYMOUTH  BEACH. 


[Chap.  VII. 


swamp  bordered  by  red  cedars  ;  at  another  a  small  lake,  then 
hills  of  barren  sand,  then  a  wood  where  the  sumach  and  oak 
with  red  and  yellow  fading  leaves,  were  mixed  with  pines :  then 
suddenly  a  bare  rock  of  granite  or  gneiss  rises  up.  with  one  side 
quite  perpendicular,  fifteen  or  twentyfive  il.t  high,  and  covered 
on  Its  summit  with  birch,  fir,  and  oak 

We  admired  the  fine  avenues  of  drooping  elr^  in  the  streets 

1  caZl  P-r-  '"S''^'  '^^  ^'"*  ''  "■  ^"^^^1  old-fashioned 
the  a!Hl  '^/'^^™  ^^°"«^'  ^h^^«  I  hired  a  carriage,  in  which 
Wh      TV  T  ^i  '"''  ''  '''  '^'  ^^y  «"^  ^^«it  Plymouth 

part  of  the  bay  directly  opposite  the  town,  and.  two  miles  distant 
tTJl'^.'''''''V"  '  breakwater  to  the  port ;  in  spite  of  which  the 
sea  has  been  making  great  inroads,  and  might  have  swept  away  all 
the  wharves  but  for  this  protection.  As  the  bar  was  fast  Sinl 
away,  the  Federal  Government  employed  engineers  to  erect  a  wood 
en  framework,  secured  with  piles,  a  mile  long,  which  has  been  filled 

Zt     TW  T    Z^''\^T'^^^'^  -^  accumulation  of  sand  to  take 
place.    This  beach  reminded  me  of  the  bar  of  Hurst  Castle,  in  Hamp- 

i  ins  'thelanV     T^""  'nT""^  ^"'"^  *'^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^^^  '^-ch 
joins  the  land^     It  is  well  known  that  the  Plymouth  bar  was  a 

narrow  neck  of  land  eighty  years  ago ;  and  one  of  the  inhabLnts 

told  me  that  when  a  boy  he  had  gathered  nuts,  wild  grape    and 

plums  there.      Even  fifty  years  ago  some  stumps  of ^tre'es  were 

«till  remaining,  whereas  nothing  now  can  be  seen  but  a  swamp 

a  sea-beach,  and  some  shoals  adjoining  them.     Here  I  spent  an 

hour  with  rny  wife  collecting  shells,  and  we  found  eighteen  species 

twelve  peculiar  to  America,  and  six  common  to  Eufope;  namely 

^.^J^-^num  undatum,  Purpura  lapillus,  Mya  arelaria,   Cyjl 

rinu  ^sianchca,  Modwla  papuana,  and  m/ilus  edulis,  111  spe- 

eies  which  have  a  high  ftorthern  range,  and  which,  the  geologist 

TZTa    '"  '°"1  'r^  ^"  *'^  '"'^  °^  glacial' depoLboh 

Jilt  tT'"^  ?^  ^"''"^"'  ^""^  h^^«  d°"btless  continued  to 

inhabit  both  hemispheres  from  that  era.      South  of  Cape  Cod  the 

Trth"?  tw"  ''^T'  '""  *'"  ^"^"^^^^^^  ^"^^^^4  the  sea 
north  of  that  cape,  that  we  may  consider  it  as  the  limit  of  two 
provinces  ol  marine  testacea. 


M 


Chap.  V1I.J  MABINB  BHELL8.-QmCK8AND. 

The  rn^r conspicuous  .hcU  scattered  OTer  the  smooth  sands 
was  the  large  and  ponderous  Mactra  ^lidissinm,  sorne  speeimens 
Twhich  were  »U  inches  and  a  half  in  their  greatest  length  and 
l"h  tger  and  heavier  than  any  British  bivalve.     The  broad 
"d  deep  muscular  impression  in  the  interjor  of  each  valve  « 
"ndicative  of  a  great  power  of  clasping  ;  and  I  was  assured  by  a 
good  zc^ogist  of  BoLn  that  this  n.oUusk  has  b<»«  l-«7  »» 
dose  upon  the  coot,  or  velvet  duck  {Fuhgtda  fusca).  and    he 
bHc-wi     .d  teal  {Anas  discars),  when  they  have  been  feed.ng 
on  them,  holding  \hese  feathered  enemies  so  fast  by  the  beak  or 
diw  that  the  tide  has  come  up  and  drowned  theni. 

Ik  r  1  had  been  some  time  engaged  in  eoUectmg  shells,  we 
turned  round  and  saw  the  horses  of  our  vehicle  smkmg  m  a 
IricWnd  p'ungin"  violently,  and  evidently  in  the  greatest  terror, 
rrrcwLnut.,  our  lankrd,  the  driver  expected  that  they 
ani  the  ..rviage  and  himself  would,  have  been  swallowed  up . 
but  he  suoceeded  at  last  in  quieting  them,  and  after  they  had 
rested  for  some  time,  though  still  trembling,  they  had  strength 
enll  to  turn  round,  ,^nd  by  many  plunges  to  get  back  agam  to 

"   Tr:::d°ltbitteriy  cold,  and  we  learned  that  on  the^en- 
in,;  before  the  sea  had  been  frozen  over  near  the  shore ;  Jtt  it 
w!s  two  months  later  when,  on  the  22d  of  December,  1620 
Iw  called  Forefathers'  Day,  the  Pilgrims,  consrstmg  of  lOl 
sods  landed  here  from  the  Mayflower,     No  wonder  that  half 
of  them  A-hed  from  the  severity  of  the  first  wmter.     They 
who  escaped  seem,  as  if  in  compensation  to  have  "^en  rewarded 
with  unusual  longevity.     We  saw  m  the  grave-yard  the  tombs 
Tf  not  a  few  who^  ages  ranged  from  seventy-nme  to  nmety-nme 
vlr     xTelames  inscribed  on  their  monuments  are  very  char 
Tete ristic  of  Puritan  times,  with  a  somewhat  grotesque  mucture 
o  otte  very  famiUar  ones,  as  -Jernsha,  SaUy,  Adorirrarn  Consider. 
ItE.peLee,  Dorcas.  Polly,  Eunice   ^1  Phalet,  Mer^yj  ^'i; 
The  New  Englanders  laugh  at  the  people  of  the     Old  Colony 
for  remaining  in  a  primitive  state,  and  are  hoping  that  the  rail- 
tadTm  Boston,  now  nearly  complete,  may  -"  ^-ch  them   o 
^  alad.     But  they  who  visit  the  town  for  the  sake  of  old 


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96 


WLGHIM  FATHEES—BBLICS.  [c„,p.  vil. 


a^oiation,,  will  not  complain  of  the  antique  .tyle  of  many  of 
the  buUdmgs,  ana  the  low  rooms  with  paneled  wall.rj  Y 

rl"  "--P^J-fng  from  the  001^^7,  inTvtZ 
d^where  m  Amenea.     Some  homes  buiU  of  brick  bronZfZ 

neighborhood,  were  pointed  out  to  us  i„  Leyden-street  so  called 
from  the  last  town  in  Europe  where  the  pU^ims  s^^um^d  S 

^Icution      In  "™'  °'"  "'  *?'  """^  "Wby  rrfi^„: 
persecution.     In  some   private  houses  we  were  interested   in 
many  venerated  hcir-looms.  kept  as  relics  of  the  tot  si  Uers 

^r'i  i    ,^  '^*°'"'"''  ""''  "■"  f*'"™  the  marks  of  the  staoles 
which  fixed  It  to  the  floor  of  the  cabin.     This,  together  S  a 

Mr    i         Tl  ^r"""'  «""  *"™  ■"»  by  ".  elderlyTdy 
Jirs.  Haywood,  daughter  of  a  Winslow  and  a  White  and  who 

oallea  l-ilgrim  Hall,  we  saw  other  memorials  of  the  same  kind 
as,  for  example  a  ehest  or  cabinet,  which  had  belo^iTto  Pere: 
grme  White,  the  first  child  bom  in  the  colony,  and  which  cZ, 
to  him  from  his  mother,  and  had  been  preiryed  r,he1fth 

bv  Z  wl .  r  ■,  ^  ^  ^"^^  "^  "  "'^  *  P««^«  dish,  also  giyen 
by  the  White  family.  In  the  same  collection,  they  hwe  a  E 
brought  oyer  m  the  Mayflower,  and  the  helmet  of  Kilt  PM^ 

"St.""' "''"  ^"^  "•' «'''  -"'-  ■>="»  -^™7s: 

A  huge  fragment  of  granite,  a  boulder  which  lay  sunk  in  th., 
beach,  has  always  been  traditionally  declared  to  We  t^n   h 
exact  sp^t  which  the  feet  of  the  Pilgrims  first  trod  wh"v 
f^  ""^f  ■  *"^  P"*  "f  *«  same  roek  still  remJns  1  the 

iiet™  aT°*r  r™.''"  "^^  '-°™*  trrremertf 

the  town    and  inclosed  within  an  iron  railing,  on  which  the 
names  of  forty-two  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  are  tscrib^      They 

cherisZ/lr"'"""  T""^  "'*  *»  N-  EnXael  fo 
Cherishing  these  precious  rehcs,  are  not  to  be  enyied  and  it  is  a 

here,  but  m  places  several  thousand  miles  distant.     Often  at 


Chap.  VII. 

many  of 
and  huge 
lever  saw 
>ght  from 
h  in  the 
so  called 
ned  aftei 
religious 
ested    in 
settlers, 
ich  came 
e  staples 
r  with  a 
rly  b.dy, 
md  who 
juilding, 
le  kind  ; 
to  Pere- 
Jh  came 
he  fifth 
>y  them 
50  given 
a  chair 
Philip, 
J  a  des- 

t  in  the 
Ben  the 
m  they 

ott  the 
nter  of 
ch  the 
They 
lers  for 

it  is  a 
t  only 
*ten  at 


Chap.  VII.] 


PEREGRINE  WHITE. 


97 


New  Orleans,  and  in  other  remote  parts  of  the  Union,  we  hear 
of  settlers  from  the  North  meeting  on  the  2  2d  of  December  to 
commemorate  the  birth-day  of  New  England ;  and  when  they 
speak  fondly  of  their  native  hills  and  valleys,  and  recall  their 
oarly  recollections,  they  are  drawing  closer  the  ties  which  bind 
together  a  variety  of  independent  States  into  one  great  confeder- 
ation. 

Colonel  Perkins,  of  Boston,  well  known  for  his  munificence, 
ospecially  in  founding  the  Asylum  for  the  Blind,  informed  me, 
in  1846,  that  there  was  but  one  link  wanting  in  the  chain  of 
personal  communication  between  liim  and  Peregrine  White,  the 
first  white  child  born  in  Massachusetts,  a  few  days  after  the 
Pilgrims  landed.  White  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and  was 
known  to  a  man  of  the  name  of  Cobb,  whom  Colonel  Perkins 
visited,  in  1807,  with  some  friends  who  yet  survi\e.  Cobb  died 
in  1808,  the  year  after  Colonel  Perkins  saw  him.  He  was  then 
blind ;  but  his  memory  fresh  for  every  thing  which  had  happened 
in  his  manhood.  He  had  served  as  a  soldier  at  the  taking  of 
Louisbourg  in  Cape  Breton,  in  1745,  and  remembered  when 
there  were  many  Indians  near  Plymouth.  The  inhabitants 
occasionally  fired  a  cannon  near  the  town  to  frighten  them,  and 
to  this  cannon  the  Indians  gave  the  name  of  "  Old  Speakum." 

When  we  consider  the  grandeur  of  the  results  which  have 
been  realized  in  the  interval  of  225  years,  since  the  Mayflower 
sailed  into  Plymouth  harbor — how  in  that  period  a  nation  of 
twenty  millions  of  souls  has  sprung  into  existence  and  peopled  a 
vast  continent,  and  covered  it  with  cities,  and  churches,  schoola, 
colleges,  and  railroads,  and  filled  its  rivers  and  ports  with  steam- 
boats and  shipping — ^we  regard  the  Pilgrim  relics  with  that  kind 
of  veneration  which  trivial  objects  usually  derive  from  high  an- 
tiquity alone.  For  we  measure  time  not  by  the  number  of  arith- 
metical figures  representing  years  or  centuries,  but  by  the  import- 
ance of  a  long  series  of  events,  which  strike  the  imagination. 
When  I  expressed  these  sentiments  to  a  Boston  friend,  he  asked 
me,  "  Why,  then,  may  we  not  believe  in  the  relics  of  the  early 
Christians  displayed  at  Rome,  which  they  say  the  mother  of 
Constantine  brought  home  from  the  Holy  Land  only  three  cen- 
VOL.  I — E 


08 


AUTHENTICITY  OF  RELICS. 


[Chap.  \1I. 


tunes  after  Christ — such,  for  example,  as  the  true  cross,  the  cradlo 
in  which  the  infant  Jesus  lay,  the  clothes  in  which  he  was  wrap- 
ped  up,  and  the  table  on  which  the  last  Supper  was  laid  ?     The 
Puritans  also  believed,  as  do  their  descendants,  that  they  were 
suffering  in  the  cause  of  religious  truth,  an^J  this  feeling  may  have 
unparled  additional  sanctity  to  all  memorials  of  their  exile  and 
adventures ;  yet  how  incomparably  greater  must  have  been  the 
veneration  felt  by  the  early  Christians  for  ah  that  belonged  to 
their  divine  teacher !"     These  observations  led  me  to  dwell  on 
the  relative  authenticity  of  the  relics  in  the  two  cases the  clear- 
ness of  the  historical  evidence  in  the  one,  its  worthlessness  in  the 
other.     It  has  been  truly  said  that  the  strength  of  every  chain 
of  historical  testimony,  like  that  of  a  chain  of  brass  or  iron,  must 
be  measured  by  the  force  of  its  weakest  link.     The  earliest  links 
in  every  traditional  tale  are  usually  the  weakest ;  but  in  the  case 
of  the  sacred  objects  said  to  have  been  obtained  by  Queen  Helena, 
there  are  more  links  absolutely  wanting,  or  a  greater  chasm  of 
years  without  any  records  whatever,  than  the  whole  period  which 
separates  our  times  from  those  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.     The 
credulity  of  Helena,  the  notorious  impostures  of  the  monks  of  her 
age,  the  fact  that  three  centuries  elapsed  before  it  was  pretended 
that  the  true  cross  had  been  preserved,  and  another  century  be- 
fore it  was  proved  to  be  genuine  by  miracles,  and  a  still  further 
lapse  of  time  before  aU  doubt  was  set  at  rest  by  the  resuscitation 
of  a  dead  person— the  extravagance  of  supposing  that  the  Chris- 
tians, when  they  escaped  with  difficulty  from  Jerusalem,  just  be- 
fore the  siege,  should  have  carried  with  them  in  their  flight  so 
cumbersome  a  piece  of  furniture  as  the  table,  have  all  been  well 
exposed  *     But  in  regard  to  the  genuineness  of  all  the  Pilcrrim 
treasures  shown  me  at  Plymouth  and  elsewhere  I  indulged  entire 
faith,  until  one  day  my  confidence  was  disturbed  in  the  Museum 
at  Salem.     A  piece  of  furniture  which  came  over  in  the  May- 
flower was  pointed  out  to  me,  and  the  antiquary  who  was  my 
guide  remarked,  that  as  the  wood  of  the  true  cross,  scattered  over 
Christendom,  has  been  said  to  be  plentiful  enough  to  build  a  man- 
of-war,  so  it  might  be  doubted  whether  a  ship  of  the  line  would 
*  Second  Travels  of  an  Irish  Gentleman,  1833,  vol.  ii.  p.  186. 


Chap.  VIL] 


DECOY  POND. 


9S 


contain  all  the  heavy  articles  which  freighted  the  Mayflower  in 
her  first  voyage,  although  she  was  a  vessel  of  only  180  tons.     I 
immediately  recollected  a  large  heavy  table,  which  I  had  seen  in 
1842,  in  the  rooms  of  the  Historical  Society  at  Boston,  which 
they  told  me  had  come  over  in  the  Mayflower,  and  my  attention 
had  been  called  to  the  marks  of  the  staples  which  ^xed  it  to  the 
cabin  floor.     I  accordingly  returned  to  that  Museum,  and  found 
there  the  sword  of  i^lder  Brewster,  as  well  as  that  with  which 
Colonel  Church  cut  off"  King  Philip's  ear,  and  the  gun  with  which 
that  formidable  Indian  warrior  was  shot.     The  heavy  table,  too, 
was  there,  measuring  two  feet  six  inches  in  height,  six  feet  in 
length,  and  five  feet  in  breadth,  and  I  asked  Mr.  Savage,  the 
President  of  the  Society,  how  they  obtained  it.     It  had  certainly 
belonged,  he  said,  to  Governor  Carver,  but  reasonable  doubts 
were  entertained  whether  it  had  ever  been  brought  to  New  En- 
gland in  the  Mayflower,  especially  in  the  month  of  December, 
1620;  "for  you  are  aware,"  he  added,  "that  the  Mayflower 
made  several  voyages,  and  at  ^ach  +. ; .)  imported  many  valuables 
of  this  kind."     In  an  instant,  more  than  half  my  romance  about 
the  Pilgiim  relics  was  dispelled.     They  lost  half  the  charms  with 
which  my  implicit  faith  had  invested  them,  for  I  began  to  con- 
sider how  many  of  \,ae  chairs  and  tables  I  had  gazed  upon  with 
so  much  interest,  might  have  bedn  "  made  to  order,"  by  cabinet 
makers  in  the  old  country,  and  sent  out  to  the  new  colonists. 
Byron  has  said — 

"  There's  not  a  joy  this  world  can  give  like  that  it  takes  away ;" 

and  some  may  think  the  same  of  certain  lines  of  historical  re- 
search. I  must,  however,  declare  my  firm  belief  that  some  of 
the  articles  shown  me  at  Plymouth  are  true  and  genuine  relics 
of  the  olden  time — ^treasures  which  really  accompanied  the  heroic 
band  who  first  landed  on  the  beach  of  Plymouth  Bay,  and  which 
deserve  to  be  handed  down  with  reverential  care  to  posterity . 

On  our  way  back  from  Plymouth  to  Boston,  we  passed  near 
the  village  of  East  Weymouth,  by  a  decoy  pond,  where  eight 
wild  geese,  called  Canada  geese,  had  been  shot  suice  the  morn- 


ing. 


Swimming  in  the  middle  of  a  sheet  of  water  was  a  tame 


100 


EXCURSION  TO  SALEM. 


[OnAP.  VII 


goose,  having  one  leg  tied  by  a  string  to  a  small  leaden  weight, 

and  near  it  were  a  row  of  wooden  imitations  of  geese,  the  sight 

of  which,  and  the  cries  of  the  tame  goose,  attract  the  wild  birds 

As  soon  as  they  fly  down  they  are  shot  by  sportsmen  of  a  true 

New  England  stamp,  not  like  the  Indian  hunters,  impatient  of 

a  sedentary  life  or  steady  labor,  but  industrious  cobblers,  each  sit- 

ting  all  day  at  iiis  own  door,  with  his  loaded  gun  lying  by  his 

side,  his  hands  occupied  in  stitching  "  russet  brogans"  or  boots 

for  the  southern  negroes,  to  be  sold  at  the  rate  of  twenty  cents,  or 

tenpence  a  pair.     After  working  an  hour  or  two,  he  seizes  his 

gun,  and  down  comes  a  goose,  which  may  fetch  in  the  Boston 

market,  m  full  season,  two  and  a  half  dollars— the  value  of  a 

dozen  pair  of  brogans. 

As  we  approached  the  capital,  we  met  a  large  wooden  barn 
drawn  by  twenty-four  oxen.  It  was  placed  on  rollers,  which 
were  continually  shifted  from  behind  forward,  as  fast  as  the  barn 
passed  over  them.  The  removal  of  this  large  building  had  be- 
come necessary,  because  it  stood  directly  in  the  way  of  xhe  new 
railway  from  Boston  to  Plymouth,  which  is  to  be  opened  in  a  few 
weeks.  A  fellow-traveler  told  us  of  a  wooden  meeting-house  in 
Hadley,  which  had  been  transferred  in  like  manner  to  a  more 
populous  part  of  the  township.  -In  Englisn  steeple-chases," 
said  he,  "  the  church  itself,  I  believe,  does  not  take  part  ?" 

Nov.  6 — Made  an  excursion  to  the  seaport  of  Salem,  about 
fourteen  miles  to  the  N.E.  of  Boston,  a  place  of  17,000  inhab- 
itants. 

Dr.  Wheatland,  a  young  physician,  to  whom  I  had  gone 
without  letters  of  introduction,  politely  showed  us  over  the 
Museum  of  Natural  History,  of  which  he  was  curator;  and 
over  another  full  of  articles  illustrative  of  the  arts,  manners,  and 
customs  of  the  East  Indies,  China,  and  Japan  ;  for  this  city  is  a 
great  resort  of  retired  merchants  and  sea-captains.  In  both  col- 
lections there  are  a  variety  of  objects  which  may  appear,  on  a 
hasty  view,  to  form  a  heterogeneous  and  unmeaning  jumble,  but 
whch  are  really  curious  and  valuable.  Such  repositories  ouht 
to  accompany  public  libraries  in  every  largo  city,  for  they  ah.  A 
a  kmd  of  instruction  which  can  not  be  obtained  from  books.     To 


Chap.  VII.] 


MUSEUM. 


101 


public  lectures,  which  are  much  encouraged  here,  and  are  effective 
means  of  stimulating  the  minds  of  all  classes,  especially  the  mid 
die  and  lower,  they  furnish  essential  aid.    Among  other  specimens 
of  natural  history,  too  large  to  be  conveniently  accommodated  in 
any  private  house,  I  was  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  examining  the 
great  jaw-bones  and  teeth  of  the  Squalus  serridens,  from  the 
South  Seas,  which  reminded  me,  by  their  serrated  butline,  of  the 
teeth  of  the  fossil  Zeuglodon,  hereafter  to  be  mentioned.     I  was 
well  pleased  to  observe  that  the  shells  of  the  neighboring  coast 
had  not  been  neglected,  for  people  are  often  as  ignorant  of  the 
natural  history  of  the  region  they  inhabit,  especially  of  the  lakes, 
rivers,  and  the  sea,  as  of  the  flora  and  fauna  of  the  antipodes. 
Many  curious  log-books  of  the  early  sea-captains  of  this  port,  who 
ventured  in  extreme  ignorance  of  geography  on  distant  voyages, 
are  preserved  here,  and  attest  the  daring  spirit  of  those  hardy 
navigators.     Some  of  them  sailed  to  India  by  the  Cape,  without 
a  single  chart  or  map,  except  that  small  one  of  the  world,  on 
Mercator's  projection,  contained  in  Guthrie's  Geography.     They 
used  no  sextants,  but,  working  their  dead-reckoning  with  chalk 
on  a  plank,  guessed  at  the  sun's  position  with  their  hand  at  noon. 
They  had  usually  no  capital,  but  started  with  a  few  beads  and 
trinkets",  and  in  exchange  for  these  trifles  often  obtained  the  skins 
of  sea-otters  in  the  Oregon  territory,  each  worth  no  less  than  100 
dollars.    They  also  obtained  sandal-wood  in  the  Sandwich  Islands, 
and  bartered  these  and  other  articles  in  China  for  tea.     On  such 
slender  means,  and  so  lately  as  after  the  separation  of  the  colonies 
from  England,  at  a  time  when  there  was  not  a  single  American 
ship  of  wav  in  the  Indian  or  Chinese  seas  to  protect  their  com- 
merce, did  many  merchants  of  Boston  and  Salem  lay  the  founda- 
tions of  the  princely  fortunes  they  now  enjoy. 

In  the  course  of  the  day  we  visited  the  court-house  at  Salem, 
where  they  keep  the  warrants  issued  by  the  judges  to  the  high- 
sherLffin  the  years  1692  and  1693,  for  the  execution  of  witches 
condemned  to  death.  Here  we  read  the  depositions  of  witnesses, 
attesting  such  facts  as  that  heifers  and  horses  had  died,  and  that 
cats  had  been  taken  ill,  and  that  a  man  had  been  pierced  by  a 
knitting-needle  to  the  dep+h  of  four  inches,  the  wound  healing 


'"Tfi'fttW 


i02 


EXECUTION  OF  WITCHEP, 


[Chap.  VIJ. 

twirl?;  Lttfuedtt;^^-7r^^^ 

It  IS  impossible  not  to  shudder  when  we  reflpof  fh„t  +1, 
V.C  .ms  of  a  dark  superstition  were  tried,  so  iT^as  th   year^/e'oT 

Hale,  who   irEnXnd         7'  ^'f"  "'  "P"^^*  ^«  ^ir  Matthew 
'    .    °'  '"  Jingland,  condemned  a  witch  to  death  in  Ififi^ 

accused  in  TipZoffZ,"  w""t  "™?'  "^  ''^™"">'«  *»  *o 

that  Bvir  tlZ   K^  appointed,  to  implore  Heaven  to  avert 

to  be  a  cfrlrrlet  t  r'''^  '"^"'  ••'''^"'^™"''"^''* 
of  the  patient  prZted  him  to  .         f'  ^^  '"""^^  ^-g'-ation 

author  of  hi,  suS!^  anTh  T  T°  '"^™''"''' '»  ''»  ""e 
apparitions  of  wthef Inflttb"  T  !  '^"'u'  ^^  "=™  "f"''"^ 
conclusive.     On    hundrefalTX  ""  '""  ™'  ■•™^'™''  ^' 

in.  trial,  and  ^^o^ttT^l'-^r^r-^^^  ^jf 
maffistrate    whpn  +>,o  ^^1     •  ,.    .  presentea  to  tho 

many  afterward  cSed^^^^^^^^^^     ^"^''-"'  "''  '""  ''"  "°*^"^ 

the  innocent*     The  la^^^  ^'^^^^^^  ^^^^^-  -gainst 

ine  last  executions  for  witchcraft  in  England 

*  See     Graham's  History,"  vol.  i.  ch.  v.  p.  392. 


PI 
if   I! 

!!    1 1 


CH*r.  VIL] 


CAUSES  OF  THF-  I'KRSECUTION. 


10? 


were  as  late  as  1716  ;  but  still  later,  in  17GG,  the  Secetlers  in 
Scotland  published  an  act  of  their  associate  Presbytery,  denounc- 
ing that  memorable  act  of  the  English  parliament  which  repealed 
all  the  penal  statutes  against  witchcraft. 

The  equal  reverence  paid  by  the  Puritans  and  Scotch  Secedera 
to  the  Jewish  and  Christian  Scriptures  (if,  indeed,  they  did  not 
hold  the  Old  Testament  in  greater  veneration  than  the  New), 
was  the  chief  cause  of  the  superstition  which  led  to  these  judicial 
murders.  They  had,  indeed,  in  common  with  other  Protestant 
sects,  rejected  the  miracles  ascribed  to  the  Christian  saints  of  the 
middle  ages,  because  they  were  not  supported  by  sufficient  his- 
torical testimony.  They  had  stood  forward  in  the  face  of  cruel 
persecutions  courageously  to  vindicate  the  right  of  private  judg- 
ment ;  and  they  held  it  to  be  not  only  the  privilege,  but  the  duty, 
of  every  Christian,  layman  or  ecclesiastic,  to  exercise  his  reason, 
and  not  yield  himself  up  blindly  to  the  authority  of  an  earthly 
teacher.  Yet  if  any  one  dared,  in  1692,  to  call  in  question  the 
existence  of  the  witchcraft,  he  was  stigmatized  as  an  infidel,  and 
refuted  by  the  story  of  the  Witch  of  Endor  evoking  the  ghost  of 
the  dead  Samuel.  Against  the  recurrence  of  such  dreadful 
crimes  as  those  perpetrated  in  the  years  1602—93,  society  is  now 
secured,  not  by  judges  and  juries  of  a  more  conscientious  charac- 
ter or  deeper  sense  of  religious  responsibility,  but  by  the  general 
spread  of  knowledge,  or  that  more  enlightened  public  opinion, 
which  can  never  exist  in  the  same  perfection  in  the  minds  of  the 
initiated  few,  so  long  as  the  multitude  with  whom  they  must  be 
in  contact  are  kept  in  darkness. 

On  our  return  from  Salem  to  Boston,  we  found  the  seats  im- 
mediately before  us  in  the  railway  car  occupied  by  two  colored 
men,  who  were  laughing  and  talking  familiarly  with  two  negro 
women,  apparently  servant  maids.  The  women  left  us  at  th'^ 
first  station,  and  we  then  entered  into  conversation  with  the 
men  who,  perceiving  by  our  accent,  that  we  were  foreign- 
ers, were  curious  to  know  what  we  thought  of  their  country. 
Hearing  that  it  was  our  intentiori  to  winter  ii>  the  south,  the 
elder  traveler  "  hoped  we  should  not  be  tainted  there."  My 
■\nfe,  supposing  he  alluded  to  the  yellow  fever,  said,  "  We  shall 


iU4 


COLORED  ABOLITIONISTS.  [Ohap.  VIl 


be  there  in  tho  cool  seasou."     He  replied.  "I  was  tWnkina  J^ 
moral  atmosphere  of  the  southern  states."     His  prolciat^^^^^^^^^ 
expression  were  so  entirely  those  of  a  well-educated  white  man  that 
we  were  surprised,  and,  talkin^r  freely  with  him  and  l.il 
learnt  that  the  elder,  who  was  ^very  ^X^::^:Z!Z:^ 

t^entucky.  and  had  run  away.      They  were  traveling  to  collect 
funds  for  a  school  for  runaway  negroes,  near  Detroit,  and    x^^^^^^^^^^ 

white  "vif'"",^*  ^*  ^'"'"^  *^^y  h^<i  f°-»d  "  tLe  colored  and 
white  children  all  taught  together  in  the  same  school   this  n^ 
being  the  case  in  Boston."     I  told  them  that  I  had  iust  seen  a 
white   landholder  from  Barhadoes.  who   had   assured  1     hat 
emancipation  had  answered  well  in  that  island;  that  th^re  wa 
a  colored  rrian  in  the  legislature,  another  in  the  execut le   oun'il 
and  several  in  tho  magistracy,  and  that  much  progress  had  been 
made  m  the  general  education  of  the  blacks      tL??.! 
remarked  fhot  +i„-=  i       •  "^acKS.      ihe  Delawarian 

n  .f        ,        '"  "">"'  ''*'■  •"=«"  "'^d  a»  an  argument  bv 
the  soathem  planter,  agaimt  their  natural  eapaeity  lnivili.a 
^on^    He  U,en  descanted  on  the  relative  liberality'^f  Lw  to 
ward  colored  men  in  the  various  free  states,  and  ™  v^ Tvet 

Ohio;  but  the  Kentnckian  affirmed  that  the  kw  therelS.^ 
real  equality  of  protection  to  the  black  man  as  he  could  -t 

witness.    There  had  been  a  scuffle,  he  said,  lately  between  a  man 
of  color  and  a  whte  at  Dayton,  and,  on  the  white  tens  S 

DlacK  people.     He  went  on  narrating  stories  of  planters  shooting 
their  slaves,  and  other  tales  of  Kentucky,  the  a,SZ^rof  which 

BuVlTomt  /"  i'^'  "^'^  ^"^  ™  *--*  '-- «» t*n' 
cut  1  conld  not  help  bemg  amused  with  the  patriotisni  of  this 

aT^'siI™  h7r  Tr'"^" "'  ""^ '«'-  f-""  i^-™**" 

m»L»L  ■  ^"'"  "  "'"'•"''S''  Kentnckian,  and  ready  to 
mamtam  that  m  climate,  soil,  and  every  other  quality  thaVstate 
was  immeasurably  superior  to  the  rest  of  the  Uni™.' I^ci^ 


Chap.  VII.J 


WHITE  AND  NEGRO  RACES. 


10; 


to  Ohio,  emancipation  alone  being  wanting  to  demongtrate  this 
fact  to  the  world. 

This  adventure  confirmed  mo  in  the  opinion  I  had  previously 
formed,  that  if  the  colored  men  had  fair  play,  and  were  carefully 
educated,  they  might  soon  be  safely  intrusted  with  equality  of 
civil  and  political  rights.  Whatever  may  be  their  present  infe- 
riority as  a  race,  some  of  them  have  already  shown  superior 
abilities  to  a  great  many  of  the  dominant  whites.  Whether,  in 
the  course  of  many  generations,  after  the  intense  prejudices  in- 
dulged against  them  have  abated,  they  would  come  up  to  the 
intellectual  standard  of  Europeans,  is  a  question  which  time 
alone  can  decidt.  It  has  been  affirmed  by  a»me  anatomists  that 
the  brain  of  an  adult  negro  resembles  that  of  a  white  child  ;  and 
Tiedemann,  judging  by  the  capacity  of  the  cranium,  found  the 
brains  of  some  of  our  uncivilized  British  ancestors  not  more  de- 
veloped than  the  average  sized  negro's  brain.  He  says,  "  there 
is  undoubtedly  a  very  close  connection  between  the  absolute  size 
of  the  brain,  and  the  intellectual  powers  and  functions  of  the 
mind."  After  a  long  series  of  observations  and  measurements, 
he  refutes  the  idea  that  the  brain  of  a  negro  has  more  resem- 
blance to  that  of  the  orang-outang  than  the  European  brain.* 

Mr.  Owen,  having  some  years  ago  made  a  post-mortem  exam- 
ination at  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital  of  the  brain  of  an  adult 
Irish  laborer,  found  that  it  did  not  weigh  more  than  the  average 
brain  of  a  youth  from  the  .educated  classes  of  the  age  of  fourteen ; 
and  he  tells  me,  in  a  letter  on  this  subject,  that  he  is  not  aware 
"  of  any  modification  of  form  or  size  in  the  negro's  brain  that 
would  support  an  inference  that  the  Ethiopian  race  would  not 
profit  by  the  same  influences  favoring  mental  and  moral  im- 
provement, which  have  tended  to  elevate  the  primitively  barbar- 
ous white  races  of  men." 

The  separation  of  the  colored  children  in  the  Boston  schools, 
before  alluded  to,  arose,  as  I  afterward  learned,  not  from  an  in- 
dulgence in  anti-negro  feelings,  but  because  they  find  they  can 
in  this  way  bring  on  both  races  faster.  Up  to  the  age  of  four- 
teen the  black  children  advance  as  fast  as  the  whites ;  but  after 


*  Phil.  Trans.  London,  1836,  p.  497. 


106 


HALF  BKEEDS. 


[Chap.  VII 


that  ago,  unless  thoro  bo  an  admixture  of  white  blood,  it  bccomea 
m  most  instances  extremely  diflicult  to  carry  thom  forward. 
That  the  half  breeds  should  bo  intermediate  between  the  two 
parent  stocks,  and  that  the  colored  race  should  therefore  gain  in 
mental  capacity  in  proportion  as  it  approximates  in  physical 
organization  to  the  whites,  seems  natural ;  and  yet  it  is  a  won- 
derful fact,  psychologically  considered,  that  wo  should  bo  able  to 
trace  the  phenomena  of  hybridity  even  into  the  world  of  intellect 
and  reason. 


I  I 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

Pretended  Fossil  Sea  Serpent,  or  Zeuglodon,  from  Alabama.  —  Recent 
Appearance  of  a  Sea  Serpent  in  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence. — In  Norway,  in 
1845. — Near  Cape  Ann,  Massachusetts,  1817. — American  Descriptions. 
— Conjectures  as  to  Nature  of  the  Animal. — Sea  Snake  stranded  in  the 
Orkneys  proved  to  be  a  Shark. — Dr.  Barclay's  Memoir. — Sir  Everard 
Homo's  Opinion. — Sea  Serpent  of  Hebrides,  1808. — Reasons  for  con- 
cludinp  that  Pontopiddan's  Sea  Snake  was  a  basking  Shark. — Capt. 
M'Quhae's  Sea  Serpent. 

During  the  first  part  of  my  stay  in  Boston,  October,  1845, 
■we  one  day  saw  the  walla  in  the  principal  streets  covered  with 
placards,  in  which  the  words  sea  serpent  alive  figured  con- 
spicuously. On  approaching  near  enough  to  read  the  small'^r 
type  of  this  advertisement,  I  found  that  Mr.  Koch  was  about  to 
exhibit  to  the  Bostonians  the  fossil  skeleton  of  "  that  colossal  and 
terrible  reptile  the  sea  serpent,  which,  lohen  alive,  measured 
thirty  feet  in  circumference."  The  public  were  also  informed 
that  this  hydrarchos,  or  water  king,  was  the  leviathan  of  the 
Book  of  Job,  chapter  xli.  I  shall  have  occasion  in  the  sequel, 
when  describing  my  expedition  in  Alabama  to  the  exact  site 
i'rom  whence  these  fossil  remains  were  disinterred  by  Mr.  Koch, 
of  showing  that  they  belong  to  the  zeuglodon,  first  made  out  by 
Mr.  Owen  to  be  an  extinct  cetacean  of  truly  vast  dimensions, 
and  which  I  ascertained  to  be  referable  geologically  to  the 
Eocene  period. 

In  the  opinion  of  the  best  comparative  anatomists,  there  is  no. 
reason  to  believe  that  this  fossil  whale  bore  any  resemblance  in 
form,  when  alive,  to  a  snake,  although  the  bones  of  the  vertebral 
column,  having  been  made  to  form  a  continuous  series,  more  than 
100  feet  in  length,  by  the  union  of  vertebrae  derived  from  more 
than  one  individual,  were  ingeniously  arranged  by  Mr.  Koch  in 
a  serpentine  form,  so  as  to  convey  the  impression  that  motion 
was  produced  by  vertical  flexures  of  the  body. 

At  the  very  time  when  I  had  every  day  to  give  an  answer  to 


108 


|i.l! 


^A^EEPENT  IN  GULF  OP  ST.  LAWBENOK.  [Chap.VIH 


the  question  vhether  I  really  believed  the  great  fossil  skeleton 

tZ  T  *"  ^  """  °'  ">'  ^'  ""P»'  fLerly"„te 
coast  near  Boston,  I  reoeived  news  of  the  reappearance  of  the 
sarne  serpent,  in  a  letter  from  my  friend  Mr.  J  W  Daws^„  „? 
P.=to„  m  Nova  Scotia.  This  geologist,  with  whom  I  Zlo'red 
Nova  Seofa  m  1842,  said  he  was  collecting  evidence  for  me  of 

m  tne  trulf  of  St.  Lawrence,  of  a  marine  monster,  about  100 
feet  long,  ^en  by  two  intelligent  observers,  nearly  a^^nd  in 
calm  water,  .^thin  200  feet  of  the  beach,  4ere  it  r^S  n 
ght  about  naif  an  hour,  and  then  got  off  ,vith  difficuC  One 
.the  witnesses  went  up  a  bank  in  order  to  look  down '  upon  ^ 
1  hey  said  it  sometia,-.s  raised  its  head  (which  resembledTal  of 
a jal)  partially  out  of  the  water.     Alolig  its  ba  kwere  I  num 

»rr  onTbL^r*"""""'  :"'*■  '"*■■«  "Pinion  0?  the  ot 
8erv.r  on  the  beach,  were  true  humps,  -while  the  other  thou.,h. 

they  were  pr«l„ced  by  vertical  flexures  of  the  body      B^wfe, 
It  Zi  ""/  *'•' t''  P'o'ol-o^nce  there  was  a  straight  plrto? 

aoove  watei.  The  color  appeared  back,  and  the  skin  1,„1  . 
rough  appearance.  The  animal  was  seen  to  bend  ,"s  bodv 
almost  mto  a  circle,  and  again  to  unbend  it  with  rapiZ  ll 
was  slender  in  proportion  to  its  length.  After  it  hadXapLrcd 
in  deep  water,  its  weke  was  visible  for  some  time  "''^P'^"^'' 
no  indications  of  paddles  seen       ^J^l  ^T^  '^  '"""' 

compared  the  creC  to  "long^ri^f  7IT'  "'?  T  "' 
mo-ring  rapidly  about.  In  the  ^u^rs  f  fhe  summeTS^^  ^T^ 
men  on  the  eastern  shore  of  Pri„„e  EdJaSrSX'in 'hot:;? 
of  St_  Lawrence,  had  been  terrified  by  this  se.  -onster  and  the 
year  before,  October,  1844,  a  simUar  Creature  swam  sloX  „lst 
the  pier  at  Ansaig,  near  the  east  end  of  Nova  Scotia  and  .h! 
being  only  a  dight  breeze  a,  the  time,  was  atte2erote*  ed 

and'  tlf^ici'nL'tf  °  s  'l^f^TZTUr  'Tt^  r  "°'' 
the  Uck.  whieh  seemed  too  Jmall  an^^  tog^tht^bTK 


Chap.  VIII.] 


NORWEGIAN  SEA  SERPENT. 


109 


The  body  appeared  also  to  move  in  long  undulations,  includ- 
ing many  of  the  smaller  humps.  In  consequence  of  this  motion 
the  head  and  tail  were  sometimes  both  out  of  sight  and  some- 
times both  above  water,  as  represented  in  the  annexed  outline, 
given  from  memory. 


Drawing  from  intini&ry  or  a  sea  serpent  seen  at  Arisaig,  Nova  Scotia,  Oct.  1844. 

The  head,  a,  was  rounded  and  obtuse  in  front,  and  was  never 
elevated  more  than  a  foot  above  the  surface.  The  tail  was 
pointed,  appearing  like  half  of  a  mackerel's  tail.  The  color  of 
the  part  seen  was  black. 

It  was  suggested  by  Mr.  Dawson  that  a  swell  in  the  sea 
might  give  the  deceptive  appearance  of  an  undulating  movement, 
as  it  is  well  known  '•'  that  a  stick  held  horizontally  at  the  surface 
of  water  when  there  is  a  ripple  seems  to  have  an  uneven  outline." 
But  Mr.  Barry  replied  that  he  observed  the  animal  very  atten- 
tively, having  read  accounts  of  the  sea  serpent,  and  feels  confi- 
dent that  the  undulations  were  not  those  of  the  water. 

This  reappearance  of  the  monster,  commonly  called  the  sea 
serpent,  was  not  confined  to  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  ;  for,  two 
months  after  I  left  Boston,  a  letter  from  one  Captain  Lawson 
went  the  round  of  the  American  papers,  dated  February,  1846, 
giving  a  description  of  a  marine  creature  seen  by  him  from  his 
schooner,  \/hen  (S  the  coast  of  Virginia,  between  Capes  Henry 
and  Charles — ^body  about  100  feet  long,  with  pointed  projections 
(query,  dorsal  fins  ?)  on  the  back ;  head  small  in  proportion  to 
its  length. 

Precisely  in  the  same  years,  in  July,  1845,  and  August,  1846, 
contemporaneous,  and  evidently  independent  accounts  were  col- 
lected in  Norway,  and  published  in  their  papers,  of  a  marine 
animal,  of  "  a  rare  and  singular  kind,"  seen  by  fishermen  and 
others,  the  evidence  being  taken  down  by  clergymen,  surgeons, 
and  lawyers,  whose  names  are  given,  and  some  of  whom  de- 


no 


NORWEGIAN  SEA  SERPENT. 


[Chap.  VIII, 

clared,  that  they  can  now  no  longer  doubt  thlT^wTT 
their  seas  some  monster  v^hini,  \.        .""""\  ^"at  there  hves  in 

lished  by  PonTopiddan  Bil        .  1?'  ^™  '''^  *"  '^^  *^^««  P^^' 
of  Norway  Sw^^^^^^^        °^^''^^"'  ^^  ^^«  ^-^"ral  History 

Fig.2.  ' 


Pontoppidan's  figure  of  the  Norwegian  sea  serpent,  published  1752. 

These  appearances  were  witnessed  in  1845  'near  Ch^;.*- 

nung  svriftly  with  serpentine  moveo^ent    both  Wontairr; 
up  and  down,  rai«„g  its  blunted  head  oeoalnX  " W  tb^ 
water ;  .ta  eyes  bright,  but  these  not  perceived  by  Ime  tuZ^^ 
Its  undulating  course  like  that  nf  ««  «^i      *    vl  j    ,      witnesses  , 
like  a  nnmber  of  .^a^e  kel "  th!  t  ^J  '"^  '"'  *^  "'^ 

rapid  movements,  an71  l^ves  toCnTe    b"^'"'''''  ^  ''' 
steam-boat  is  passing.     From  Z  wl  T.^  V  T  °'  '^''""  » 

that  of  a  horsi'eom^encS  wh*h  tld  b^^JIIIa' ^ fo'  ""^ 
m  the  water.  Arehdeaeon  Deinboll  says  that  "Thll  ^"'^ 
whose  testhnony  he  ooUeeted,  were  no^sf  eU  , Xfel^Tto 
impair  their  powers  of  obs  ^rvation  ■   and  o«TJ^lt  I 

within  mnsket  shot,  had  fired  at  .h;'m:ler"  an/is  trtairt 
shots  hit  hm,  m  the  head,  after  which  he  d  ved    but  mr 
again  immediately."  '  ™'  "*■"«  "P 

with  their  numerous  points  of  agreement   both  ^.iil    \^^^^^k 

;e":frd  mf  I'  '\«^-t;rdri::eint 


Chap.  VIII.] 


AMERICAN  DESCRIPTIONS. 


Ill 


most  of  the  contradictions  of  those  who  have  attempted  to  describe 
what  they  saw  of  the  color,  form,  and  motion  of  the  animal  At 
each  of  these  periods  the  creature  was  seen  by  some  persons  who 
were  on  the  shore,  and  who  could  take  a  leisurely  survey  of  it, 
without  their  imaginations  being  disturbed  by  apprehensions  of 
personal  danger.  On  the  other  hand,  the  consternation  of  the 
fishermen  in  Norway,  the  Hebrides,  and  America,  who  have 
encountered  this  monster,  is  such,  that  we  are  entitled  to  ask  the 
question — Is  it  possible  they  can  have  seen  nothing  more  than 
an  ordinary  whale  or  shark,  or  a  shoal  of  porpoises,  or  some  other 
known  cetacean  or  fish  ? 

So  great  a  sensation  wa£5  created  by  the  appearance  of  a  huge 
animal,  in  August,  1817,  and  for  several  successive  years  in  the 
harbor  of  Gloucester,  Massachusetts,  near  Cape  Ann,  that  the 
Linnsean  Society  of  Boston  appointed  a  committee  to  collect 
evidence  on  the  subject.  T  am  well  acquainted  with  two  of  the 
three  gentlemen,  Dr.  Bigelow  and  Mr.  F.  C.  Gray,  who  drew  up 
the  report,  which  gives  in  detail  the  depositions  of  numerous  wit- 
nesses who  saw  the  creature  on  shore  or  at  sea,  some  of  them 
from  a  distance  of  only  ten  yards.  "  The  monster,"  they  say, 
"  was  from  eighty  to  ninety  feet  long,  his  head  usually  carried 
about  two  feet  above  water  ;  of  a  dark  brown  color ;  the  body 
with  thirty  or  morfe  protuberances,  compared  by  some  to  ibur- 
gallon  kegs,  by  others  to  a  string  of  buoys,  and  called  by  several 
persons  bunches  on  the  back ;  motion  very  rapid,  faster  than 
those  of  a  whale,  swimming  a  mile  in  three  minutes,  and  some- 
times more,  leaving  a  wake  behind  him  ;  chasing  mackerel,  her- 
rings, and  other  fish,  which  were  seen  jumping  out  of  the  water, 
fifty  at  a  time,  as  he  approached.  He  only  came  to  the  surface 
of  the  sea  in  calm  and  bright  weather.  A  skillful  gunner  fired 
at  him  from  a  boat,  and,  having  taken  good  aim,  felt  sure  he 
must  have  hit  him  on  the  head  ;  the  creature  turned  toward  him, 
then  dived  under  the  boat,  and  reappeared  a  hundred  yards  on 
the  other  side." 

Just  as  they  were  concluding  their  report,  an  unlucky  accident 
raised  a  laugh  at  the  expense  of  the  Linnsean  Coraniittee,  and 
enabled  the  incredulous  to  turn  the  whole  niatter  into  ridicule. 


112 


AMERICAN  DESCRIPTIONS. 


It  happened  that 


[Chap.  Vlli. 


{Coluber canurict J  mZl       ."^l""''  '^"^  °'''=""1  'n'"'' 
a.u.t  have  beT^wept  "„fr"' ""''  "'"'"  *''""'  '"^^  '""S.  -h-h 

by  the  Mv"::.  hap^l'T^  °""T  ""  "^  ''='^'''  «»^ 
.which  can  no  longer TZL^rf  have  a  diseased  spi„e_a  fact 
specimen,  whichTstm  nZJ  ^  ^°'  ^  ^"^  ''=™  ""^  i''»»'i=»l 
Nevr  HaUn  A  '! "  ^TT^.  '"  'P"""  '"  ""^  Museum  „f 
be  an  exact  nnntatuTe  J.l  T"™"  '^"='"'*'>  «>^  »»ke  to 
eluded  tha  Trntr  te  tt!  ^  """f '  *'  '^'"""''««  ■=™- 
conferred  u  J„  "  Thl  wl    ^T^'  """'  ^™S  a  £gnre  rf  it. 

^.^«..<».^^e'Utic''trht^  S"  ^7*^^ 
"itSdT'™'  fiexiMe.  and  6f.,,  „/hi".      "  "■"  """^ 

Bo,l  trth:  tdrt'f  rr"''  ^°"'-'  ^*-.  <^ 

July,  1817,  when  he  saw. W  ^  ^^""V^  ^'  »°'^»'  ™'J«  ™ 
jection,.  siiTeet  apartof  h?Zt'  J^^T'^  «>■"«- P- 
vertical  flexures  of  tW  1^^  the  back,  which  he  imagined  to  be 

the  hod,  ^r^r:::^\:::z:^i-^^^^^^^  - 
:r  ^ir^of^rto^-  - 1^- i-ori?  r  J  ^°°' 

found  to  resemble  Pontoppidan's  /Are  *  P.  .  *'  ""^"^  ^^« 
Mr.  Mansfield,  a  friend  7the  CoW^  ^T'*'"^  *^' ^^»ff*^' 
vehicle  on  a  ^ad  sldrtin J  cl?  T  '^^^  f  ™^  ^  ^"^"^^^^^ 
clif^  fifty  or  ^^t ^^S'^X^aA^'^'''  1: 

reins  to  his  -ife/lootT  dTj  ;^rtl:^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^ 

his  mind  that  it  was  ninety  feet  W  '""V  X  '  ?f  ""^^^  "? 
the  spot,  and  asked  her  t^gt essTte^n^rand  f  '^^^'^  *° 
as  long  as  the  wharf  bplim/ti!-  I         "    ',  ^^  ^^^  ^^^^  ^*  was 

*  See  "Silliraan's  Journal,''  vol.  ii.  p.  ]56. 


Chaf.  VIII.] 


AMERICAN  DESCRIPTIONS. 


Hi 


as  to  resemble  a  string  of  floating  barrels  in  motion.  He  said 
that  after  this  explanation  had  been  suggested  to  him,  he  was 
one  of  thirty  persons  who  ran  along  the  beach  at  Nahant,  near 
Boston,  when  the  sea  serpent  was  swimming  very  near  the  shore. 
They  were  all  convinced  that  it  was  one  animal,  and  they  saw 
it  raise  its  head  out  of  the  water.  He  added  that  there  were  at 
that  time  two  sea  serpents  fishing  in  the  Bay  at  once. 

Among  many  American  narratives  of  this  phenomenon  which 
have  been  communicated  to  me,  I  shall  select  one  given  me  by 
ray  friend  Mr.  William  M'llvaine  of  Philadelphia,  because  it 
seems  to  attest  the  fact  ot  the  creature  having  wandered  as  far 
south  as  Cape  Hatteras,  in  North  Carolina,  lat.  35°.  "  Captain 
Johnson,  of  New  Jersey,  was  sailing,  in  the  year  1806,  from  the 
West  Indies,  on  the  inner  edge  of  the  gulf  stream,  in  a  deeply 
laden  brig,  when  they  were  becalmed,  and  the  crew  and  passen- 
gers awe-struck  by  the  sudden  apparition  of  a  creature  having  a 
cylindrical  body  of  great  length,  and  which  lifted  up  its  head 
eight  feet  above  the  water.  After  gazing  at  them  for  several 
minutes  it  retreated;  making  large  undulations  like  a  snake." 
The  story  had  been  so  much  discredited  that  the  captain  would 
only  relate  it  to  intimate  friends. 

After  the  year  1817,  every  marvelous  tale  was  called  in  the 
United  States  a  snake  story  ;  an(\  when  Colonel  Perkins  went  to 
Washington  twenty  years  ago,  and  was  asked  if  he  had  ever 
known  a  person  who  had  seen  the  sea  serpent,  he  answered  that 
he  was  one  of  the  unfortunate  individuals  who  saw  it  himself  I 
confess  that  when  I  left  America  in  1846,  I  was  in  a  still  more 
unfortunate  predicament,  for  I  believed  in  the  sea  serpent  with- 
out having  seen  it.  Not  that  I  ever  imagined  the  northern  seas 
to  be  now  inhabited  by  a  gigantic  ophidian,  for  this  hypothesis 
has  always  seemed  to  me  in  the  highest  degree  improbable,  seeing 
that,  in  the  present  state  of  the  globe,  there  is  no  great  develop- 
ment of  reptile  life  in  temperate  or  polar  regions,  whether  in  the 
northern  or  southern  hemisphere.  When  we  enter  high  latitudes, 
such  as  those  in  which  the  creature  called  a  sea  serpent  most 
frequently  occurs,  we  fr  i  even  the  smaller  reptilians,  such  as 
irrgs  and  newts,  to  gi"«j  w  rare  or  disappear ;  and  there  are  no 


114 


SEA  MONSTER  AT  STRONSA. 


[Chap.  VIII 

representatives  of  the  hydrophis  or  tr„A  tv«.  , 

toises  nor  of  the  batrach'ian 'or  Lard  tribls        "^       ""  °' ^°^- 

cedent  t  tTa^^C  tt  T^T^  T''''  ^"^"^^^'^^^^^  -^e- 
existence,  ther  was  a  sfmila  T  ""'"^r^  ^^""^  -"^«  -to 
there  we;e  tl  en   as  now^    ^J«ence  of  large  reptiles,  although 

seals,  narwais  and  Xl'es  I  '  h  ^^*^*"^^\  ^^X  ^-^e  sharks, 
ia  North  Am;rica  and  Norw  J  slZal^^  ^'^^^^^--^-^ 
unknown  species  of  any  one  o^'tht.  f^^  ?'°^^  *°  ^^  ««-« 
vertebrata,    I  see  no  imZn     .  ^st-mentioned  families  of 

narneofsaser't  iu7a?oTe^'V''  ?"""^  *^^'  ^"^^-h 
elephant,  and  aTrnkllh Vf ^^^^  '^  "^^  -"^^  '^  -a 

while  other  marine  an.V^L     *''^^«^jt«^ranean,  a  sea  horse; 

although  they  W  onH  f      T  T"'"'^  ''"  ™^^  ^"^^  "^^h^n^ 
mice.  ^  °"^^  ^  ^"^^^^"^  resemblance  to  hedgehogs  o^ 

Some  naturalists  have  arjrued  that  ,'f  ,>  «, 
species,  some  of  its  bones  must  ere  tWs  1'  T"  ^"  "^^^««ril>«'l 
but  I  question  whether  wTart  as  ve  1       ii    '"  """'^'"^  "^^'^^' 
the  tenants  of  the  ^reaT  Z        ^!        ""'^^  acquamted  with  all 
-eight  to  thi    ar^um  „    tZ  LV^''^^  *^  ^"^^^  ^^^ 

from  good  zoologislTa:  [heTe  aTraCloTr;  ^"'  '  '''''' 
have  been  seen  since  SiMnl^  ^  "^e  wnajes  so  rare  as  never  to 

the  seventeenth  Ztu^    ^Thet Tak   '"'^'^  ""  '"^  "'^"'^  "^ 
thirty  feet  long  caUed  n,7„v      .  "  ^'"  eetaeean,  abont 

only  Lee  ^pefCrhat'tri  r^etl^rT'  ^t'"" 
iae„««^  with  the  ^^Z^^Z:^  --e,  and 

independent  exi'te'e  of  tl talZmr''"?  ""  ""'""'  "* 
pioion  that  it  is  a  Inown  spites  0^  ""''  f""!  .*  '"™S  ^^S" 

ally  been  oast  ashore  iHhe^  knevs  andT.    "'^"''' '"'"  ^'""■ 
are  now  preserved  in  o „r    ",     °y''  *"<•  'h^'  ^"ne  of  its  bones 

«qnaii„e  fLly  »d  no  sl„r   .     '■  *°™^  '*  '"  ^  "f  *!•« 

i.  has  perplexJd,  nor  Z  tZTt^T'  f  ■'"'  ^""'"^''^  -"- 

has  frightened.     In  the  ZZ^nflt  '°'''^""=  ^^^^  ^h™  *' 

in  tfte  summerof  the  year  1808,  the  fishermen 


Chap.  VIII.] 


SEA  MONSTER  AT  STRONSA. 


115 


of  the  Hebrides  were  terrified  by  a  monster  of  huge  size  and 
unusual  appearance,  which  created  a  great' sensation  in  Scotland. 
Three  or  four  months  after  this  apparition,  the  body  of  an  enor- 
mous sea  monster  was  washed  ashore  (Sept.  1808)  on  the  outer 
reefs  at  Rothesholm  Head  in  Stronsa,  one  of  the  Orkneys,  where 
it  was  first  observed  while  still  entire,  and  its  length  measured 
by  two  persons;  after  which,  when  somewhat  decayed,  it  was 
swept  in  by  another  storm,  and  stranded  on  the  beach,  and  there 
examined  by  others.  ♦  Mr.  Neill,  well  known  as  a  naturalist, 
who  had  been  on  a  visit  to  Stronsa  the  same  year,  but  had  left 
before  this  occurrence,  immediately  corresponded  with  friends  on 
the  spot,  among  others  with  Mr.  Laing,  the  historian,  and  with 
a  lawyer  and  physician,  who  collected  evidence  for  him.     Their 
affidavits,  taken  in  1808,  respecting  the  monster,  were  published 
in  the  Transactions  of  the  Wernerian  Society,  of  which  Mr. 
Neill  was  secretary,  and  were  accompanied  by  a  drawing  of  the 
skeleton,  obviously  ideal  and  very  incorrect,  with  six  legs  and  a 
long  tail  curving  several  times  vertically.    The  man  who  sketched 
it  reached  the  spot  too  late,  and  when  scarcely  any  part  of  the 
animal  remained  entire,  and  the  outline  is  admitted  to  have  been 
taken  by  him  and  altered  from  a  figure  chalked  out  upon  a  table 
by  another  man  who  had  seen  it,  while  one  witness  denied  its 
resemblance  to  what  he  had  seen.      But  a  carpenter,   whose 
veracity,  I  am  informed  by  Mr.  Neill  (in  a  letter  dated  1848), 
may  be  trusted,  had  measured  the  carcass,  when  still  whole,  with 
his  foot-rule,  and  found  it  to  be  fifty-five  long,  while  a  person 
who  also  measured  it  when  entire,  said  it  was  nine  fathoms  long. 
The  bristles  of  the  mane,  each  fourteen  inches  in  length,  and 
described  as  having  been  luminous  in  the  dark,  were  no  doubt 
portions  of  a  dorsal  fin  in  a  state  of  decomposition.      One  said 
that  this  mane  extended  from  the  shoulders  to  within  two  ^eet 
and  a  half  of  the  tail,  another  that  it  reached  to  the  tail  :   a 
variance  which  may  entitle  us  to  call  in  question  the  alleged  con- 
tinuity of  the  mane  down  the  whole  back.      So  strong  was  the 
propensity  in  Scotland  to  believe  that  the  Stronsa  animal  was  the 
sea  serpent  of  the  Norwegians,  that  Mr.  Neill  himself,  after  draw- 
ing up  for  the  Wernerian  Society  his  description  of  it  from  the 


.1 


llff 


SIR  BVERARD  HOME'S  OPINION. 


[Chap  VIIl. 

difTerent  accounts  communicated  to  him^^^ii^TT^T^       ~ 

and  he  oonoeived  them  .T  hT     .       '""''  ""'•"'  "f  th*  Tweed, 
monster.  "  '°  "^'""S  •»  "  "^^^  a-"!  entirely  unknown 

as  'tl  *rrr::  :Lr.:  r^ :'\r'^  -^  -  '---p'^" 

Stronsa  animal  and  the  Z  "i"?'^  '"  ""•  "^"""l^o-  that  the 
same,  we  can  not  be  surpS Tt  Z  "Xr'  """'  "'"'  "»<'  *« 
.he  most  implioit  faith  ?nr,Ut  Th'a^t'dir"'  '"""' 
by  a  passage  recently  published  in  rI.«  .  7.,  ^  '"'  "  t'o^^ 
Where  .e  poet  wri.-.„f^  ^  le^ ^0^01^;^^:!!; 

nki^uZl  atire:L;;ii:rTeitr  ''""^'■" ««' '-  <-'■ 

-has  been  found  thrown  „rthe  OrknetlT'™''  '"'"'™»=  "^^ 
a  mane  like  a  horse,  four  feet  tbtiT  ,  L  ?  '  "  ''"  ™"'«=  with 
»  -iously  true,  ifaloolm  W  the  hi'™ '■""™"-  ™' 
a  drawing  of  it  to  my  friend  "»  '  '^™''*'  »<>  «»« 

con^CreoTs  i^i^:; —; V '^''r  --^  -» »'^'^* 

no  motive  or  disposition  to  misrep  tm  17'°"^ "■  "'"'  '""• 
nerian  Transactions  and  Mr  S?,!    "r'''     ^'■°"'  "•«  ^er- 

Malcolm  La^ug  never  w«  ^t     ho t'of  S?  """r^^ '"^t 
monster.  ^"^'^^  °*  otronsa  to  see  the 

to.  belong  to  the  S^X^SlTor"!"""  PT™"""  •"^ 
Figure,  of  other  por^tions  Sr^ZrT^VB''?  *"''• 
also  published  by  him  in  the  Wernerian  Tr,l  ^'■^"■^'''y'  were 
very  well  with  Home's  decision  l^fr^"""™'' ""<•  "S'^" 

*  Campbell's  Life,  vol.  ii.  p.  m,  m. 


Chap.  VIII.] 


SEA  SERPENT  OF  HEBRIDES. 


nvr 


vincing  evidence  that  a  carcass  which  was  fifty-five  feet  long 
could  bo  referable  to  a  species,  the  largest  known  individual  of 
which  has  never  exceeded  thirty-five  or  forty  feet.  But  there 
seems  no  escape  from  Home's  verdict ;  for  the  vertebra)  are  still 
in  the  College  of  Surgeons,  where  I  have  seen  them,  quite  entire, 
and  so  identical  with  those  of  the  Squalus  maximus,  that  Mr. 
Owen  is  unwilling  to  imagine  they  can  belong  to  any  other  spe- 
cies of  the  same  genus. 

Mr.  Neill  tells  me,  in  his  letter,  that  the  basking  shark  is  by 
no  means  uncommon  in  the  Orkneys,  where  it  is  called  the  hock- 
mar,  and  a  large  one  was  killed  in  Stromness  Harbor  in  1804, 
when  he  was  there ;  yet  it  was  agreed  by  all  with  whom  he 
spoke  in  1808,  that  the  Stronsa  animal  was  double  the  length 
of  the  largest  hockmar  ever  stranded  in  their  times  in  Orkney. 

Unfortunately,  no  one  observed  the  habits  and  motions  of  the 
monster  before  it  was  cast  ashore  ;  but  the  Rev.  Donald  Maclean, 
of  Small  Isles  in  the  Hebrides,  was  requested  to  draw  up  a  state- 
ment of  what  he  recollected  of  the  creature  which  had  so  much 
alarmed  the  fishermen  in  the  summer  of  the  same  year.  Before 
he  penned  his  letter,  which  was  printed  as  an  appendix  to  Bar- 
clay's Memoir  in  1809,*  he  had  clearly  been  questioned  by  per- 
sons who  were  under  the  full  persuasion  that  what  he  had  seen, 
and  the  Stronsa  animal,  were  identical  with  Pontoppidan's  sea 
serpent.  Maclean  informs  us,  that  it  was  about  the  month  of 
June,  1808,  when  the  huge  creature  in  question,  which  looked 
at  a  distance  like  a  small  rock  in  the  sea,  gave  chase  to  his 
boat,  and  he  saw  it  first  from  the  boat,  and  afterward  from  the 

land. 

Its  head  was  broad,  of  a  form  somewhat  oval ;  its  neck  rather 
smaller.  It  moved  by  undulations  up  and  down.  When  the 
head  was  above  water,  its  motion  was  not  so  quick ;  when  most 
elevated,  it  appeared  to  take  a  view  of  distant  objects.  It  direct- 
ed its  "monstrous  head,"  which  slill  continued  above  water, 
towjird  the  boat,  and  then  plunged  violently  under  water  in  pur- 
suit of  them.  Afterward,  when  he  saw  it  fi-om  the  shore,  "  it 
moved  off  with  its  head  above  water  for  about  half  a  iniie 
*  Wern.  Trans,  vol.  i.  p.  444. 


118 


_SEA^SERPENT  OF  HEBRIDES.  [Chap.  VIII 


thirteen  fehing  boats  off  .h„     I     j    ,  ^^^  *"""  "■»  "«™  »f 
this  mo«ster;\,7the  Iw  of    "''f^''""'''  ''«<'  '^^  % 

-;.,w.ee„  K„j;\Tcl::  ^:ui -ti  Lr.?H':d 

filaments  thereon,  if  ft  had  ar'"  I  T^  ^r'"'  "°  *'"»*' 
had  no  fin  that  I  em.M  '^^       ^"^  ^°  "'"'  °'»^"'«'  ••  "  I' 

p»gressive,;^;\LSnr„7i^drwr"'"i'° -; «"  -- 

rrj^Kt^V  .hi  t^L'rat  if  n^tfh-J  er 
out  fignres  rleeut  .?„'';  '"'  '™"  P"''"'''^''  '«=<^'™nts  with-    ' 

"-!.  as  .hraSC;dra:d:dror'''"r'"  ^«°«' 

us  have  felt  sare  that  borhT.v.  ''^°^'  "«  «'>»»''l  «"  »f 

rter.  and  no  other  thL.h/",""?  °'"'  ""''  *«  ^"""^  ">"»• 
often  seen  on  the  eas'rn  co  "st  rft  f/r°Pi''''».  "  *ha,  so 
delusion  in  Ihi.  case  haT  bZ  V  „  .  .  '^'"'™''-  ^ow  mneh 
few  bones  ;     May  we  „„,  fh        '^  ^  *''"  P^<««'™«io«  of  a 

were  also  sharks'     If  s^  t^  P'''"™  ">>'  °"'0'  «>a  serpents 
pearanee,  with  this  hynXsis' "  V  "•."^T"""'  ''"o'ded  «p. 

Fleming,  in  his  Bri.Tinrais   182^'T,'J^'T*'''  ''^»'- 
aeeount  of  a  oreature  w^T       i?    .  <?■  "*  ■  ""»*  Maeiean's 

viewed  distant  Ob  ete  wt  „„Tl '."  Y"^.  """"^  *«  ™'-  "-1 
able  to  the  elass  ToIhI      '^'"'f '»  '^^  '^'^  of  its  being  refer- 

out  of  the  sea  as  it  swtfT  '^^^  f"  ""  '''^*  '"*»  '*'  ^^^ 
Bcriptions  eomJn,;' ™rU  rthe^""""''  *""'  '"»  "- 
Amerieans,  would  agree  b'ettewhb^b  ^""'^lans  and  North 
«>alwithamane,chaserbvasb„,T  f  I'PPo^anee  of  a  large 

But  when  wi  Son  th»^  i^'""^"'"''' ''"''"  ™*  "'■''^^■ 
make  great  aUowaTee  for  ,w  •  '^^'"^  """'  '''°«''y>  ™  "ust 
ignoran    of  .ooW      if  ,£   'TT '"'°"  °^  o*^'™"  ^^holiy 

our  minds  the  i^e  of  a  sharl  as^t""''  ^'  "T  ''''»'"  '^°" 
g    o.  a  Shark  as  it  appears  when  out  of  the 

•  Wern.  Trans.  Edinburgh,  vol.  i.  p.  444. 


Chap.  VIII.] 


BASKING  SHARK 


11!) 


water,  or  as  stuffed  in  a  museum.  The  annexed  firrure  represents 
the  outline  of  the  Squalm  maximus,  of  which  when  immersed, 
but  swimming  near  the  surface,  three  points  only  could  be  seen 
above  water  at  the  same  time,  namely,  the  prominence  of  the 
back,  with  the  first  dorsal  fin,  a;  secondly,  the  second  dorsal  fin, 
b ;  and  thirdly,  the  upper  lobe  of  the  tail,  c. 

Fig.  3. 


''  Squalus  maximug,  Basking  Shark,  or  Hockinar. 

a.  First  dorsHi  fin  ;  b.  Second  dorsal  fin ;  e.  Caudal  fin. 

Dr.  Melville  informed  me  that  he  once  saw  a  large  species  of 
shark,  swimming  at  the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  in  Torres 
Strait,  off  Australia  ;  and,  besides  the  lateral  flexures  of  the  tail, 
which  are  the  principal  propelling  power,  the  creature  described 
as  it  advanced  a  series  of  vertical  undulations,  not  by  the  actual 
bending  of  the  body  itself,  but  by  the  whole  animal  first  rising 
near  to  the  surface  and  then  dipping  down  again,  so  that  the 
dorsal  fin  and  part  of  the  back  were  ccasionally  lifted  up  to  a 
considerable  height.  Now  it  strikes  me,  that  if  a  very  huge 
shark  was  going  at  the  rate  of  twenty  miles  an  hour,  as  stated 
by  some  of  the  observers,  that  portion  of  the  back  which  emerged 
in  front  might  easily  be  taken  for  the  head,  and  the  dorsal  fin 
behind  it  for  the  mane ;  and  in  this  manner  we  may  explain  the 
three  projecting  points,  a,  b,  c,  fig.  1,  p.  109,  given  in  the 
drawing,  sketched  from  memory,  by  Mr.  Barry  of  Nova  Scotia. 
The  smaller  undulations  seen  by  the  same  person,  intervening  be- 
tween the  three  larger,  may  very  well  be  referred  to  a  series  of 
waves  raised  in  the  water  by  a  rapid  passage  through  it  of  so 
bulky  a  body.     Indeed,  some  of  the  drawings  which  I  have  seen 


190 


SEA  SNAKE  A  BASKING  SHARK.  [Chap.  VIII. 


of  the  northern  sea  snake,  agree  perfectly  with  the  idea  of  the 
projecting  back  of  a  shark  iblJowed  by  a  succession  of  waves 
dirmnishing  in  size  as  they  recede  from  the  dorsal  prominence      ' 
The  parts  before  mentioned  as  alone  visible  above  water  would 
form  so  small  a  portion  of  the  whole  body,  that  they  might  easily 
convey  the  notion  of  narrowness  as  compared  to  great  length  • 
and  the  assertion  of  a  few  witnesses  that  the  dorsal  projections 
M'ero  pointed,  may  have  arisen  from  their  having  taken  a  more 
accurate  look  at  the  shape  of  the  fins,  and  distinguished  them 
better  from  the  intervening  waves  of  the  sea.     But,  according  to 
this  view,  the  large  eyes  seen  in  the  "  blunt  head"  by  several 
observers,  nfuat  have  been  imaginary,  unless  in  cases  where  thev 
rnay  have  really  been  looking  at  a  seal.    It  can  hardly  be  doubted 
that  «)mo  good  marksmen,  both  in  Norway  and  New  England 
who  fired  at  the  animal,  sent  bullets  into  what  they  took  to  bo 
the  head,  and  the  fact  that  the  wound  seems  never  to  have  pro- 
.  duced  serious  injury,  although  in  one  case  blood  flowed  freely 
accords  perfectly  with  the  hypothesis  that  they  were  firing  at  the 
dorsal  pronr    ence,  and  not  at  the  head  of  a  shark.     The  opinion 
of  most  of  the  observers  that  the  undulations  were  coincident  with 
♦he  rapid  movements  of  the  creature,  agrees  well  with  our  theory, 
which  refers  the  greater  number  of  the  projections  to  waves  of 
the  sea.     0n  the  other  hand,  as  several  of  the  protuberances  arc 
rea    consisting  of  three  fins  and  a  part  of  the  back,  the  emergence 
oi  these  parts  may  explain  what  other  witnesses  beheld      Dr 
Melville  has  suggested  to  me,  that  if  the  speed  were  as  great  as 
stated,  and  the  progressive  movement  such  as  he  has  described  * 
the  three  fins  would  be  first  submerged,  and  then  re-emerge  in 
such  rapid  succession,  that  the  image.of  one  set  would  be  retained 
on  the  retina  of  the  eye  after  another  set  had  become  visible,  and 
they  might  be  counted  over  and  over  again,  and  ,  >:Mh>\ie^  in- 
definitely.     Although  I  think  this  explanation  unm.  vr.-y  in 
most  cases,  such  a  confusion  of  the  images  seem,    .er,  potable 
when  we  recollect  that  the  fins  would  be  always  mingled  with 
waves  of  the  sea,  which  are  said,  in  the  Norwegian  accounts  of 
1845,  to  have  been  so  great,  that  they  broke  on  the  coast  in 

*  Ante,  p.  119. 


Chap.  VIII.]        CAPT.  M'QUHAE'S  SEA  SERPENT. 


!•*. 


ances  are 


calm  weather,  when  the  serpent  iwam  by,  as  if  a  steamer  at  full 
speed  was  passing  near  the  sliore. 

J  conclude,  therefore,  that  the  sea  serpent  of  North  America 
and  the  German  Ocean  is  a  shark,  probably  the  Sqtmius  maxi- 
mus,  a  species  which  seems,  from  the  measurements  taken  in 
Orkney  in  1808,  to  attain  sometimes,  when  old,  a  much  larger 
size  than  had  ever  been  previously  imagined.  It  may  be  objected 
that  this  opinion  is  directly  opposed  to  a  great  body  of  evidence 
\vhi<ih  has  been  accumulating  for  nearly  a  century,  derived  partly 
fiuin  experienced  sea-faring  men,  and  partly  from  observers  on  the 
land,  some  of  whom  were  of  the  educated  class.  I  answer  that 
most  of  them  caught  glimpses  only  of  the  creature  when  in  rapid 
motion  and  in  its  own  element,  four-fifths  or  more  of  the  body 
being  submerged ;  and  when,  at  length,  the  whole  carcass  of  a 
monster  mistaken  for  a  sea  snake  was  stranded,  touched,  and 
measured,  and  parts  of  it  sent  to  the  ablest  anatomists  and  zo- 
ologists in  Scotland,  we  narrowly  escaped  having  transmitted  to 
us,  without  power  of  refutation,  a  tale  as  marvelous  and  fabulous 
concerning  its  form  and  nature,  as  was  ever  charged  against  Pon- 
toppidan  by  the  most  skeptical  of  his  critics.* 

*  After  the  above  was  written,  a  letter  appeared  in  the  English  news- 
papers, by  Captain  M'Quhae,  R.N.,  of  the  DsBdalus  frigate,  dated  Oct.  7, 
1848,  giving  an  account  of  "the  sea  serpent"  seen  by  him,  Aug.  6,  1848, 
lat.  24°  44'  S.  between  the  Cape  and  St.  Helena,  about  300  miles  distant 
from  the  western  coast  of  Africa ;  the  length  estimated  at  sixty  feet,  head 
held  four  feet  above  water,  with  something  like  the  mane  of  a  horse  on  its 
back  which  was  straight  and  inflexible.  Professor  Owen  has  declared  his 
opinion,  after  seeing  the  drawing  of  the  animal,  sent  to  the  Admiralty  by 
Captain  M'Quhao,  "  that  it  may  have  been  the  largest  of  the  seal  tribe,  the 
soa-elephant  of  the  southern  whalers,  Phoca  prohoscidea,  which  sometimes 
attains  a  length  of  thirty  feet,  and  individuals  of  which  have  been  known  to 
have  been  floated  by  icebergs  toward  the  Cape.  This  species  has  coarse 
hair  on  the  upper  part  of  its  inflexible  trunk  which  might  appear  like  a  mane. 
The  chief  impelling  force  would  be  the  deeply  immersed  terminal  fins  and 
tail,  which  would  create  a  long  eddy,  readily  mistakable  for  an  indefinite 
prolongation  of  the  body." 

Mr.  Owen's  conjecture  appears  to  me  very  probable ;  but,  before  I  heard 
It,  I  had  made  up  my  mind  that  the  creature  seen  by  Captain  M'Quhae  dif- 
fered from  the  sea  serpent  of  the  Norwegians  and  New  Englanders,  from 
whose  description  it  varies  materially,  especially  in  the  absence,  when  at  fall 
ipeed,  of  apparent  undulations,  or  dorsal  prominences. 
VOL.  I. — F 


-'  '  f 


■^m 


a 


CHAPTER  IX 

Boston  —No  Private  Lodgings.— Boat  ding-houses.— Hotels.— Effects  of  the 
Climate  on  Health.— Large  Fortunes.- Style  of  Living.— Servants.— 

Carriages. — Education  of  Ladies. — Marriages. — Professional  Iroomes 

Protectionist  Doctrines.— Peculiarities  of  Lar  ^uage.— Literary  Tastes. 
— Cost  of  Living. — Alarms  of  Fire. 

As  we  intended  to  pass  nearly  two  months  in  Boston,  we  de- 
termined to  look  out  for  private  lodgings,  such  as  might  be  met 
with  in  every  large  town  in  England,  but  which  we  found  it 
almost  impossible  to  procure  here.  It  does  not  answer  to  keep 
houses,  or  even  suites  of  apartments  to  let  in  a  city  where  house- 
rent  is  so  dear,  and  well-trained  servants  so  difficult  to  hire,  even 
at  high  wages.  In  this  country,  moreover,  the  mass  of  the  peo- 
ple seem  to  set  less  value  on  the  privilege  of  living  in  private  than 
we  English  do.  Not  only  strangers  and  bachelors,  but  whole 
famihes,  reside  in  boarding-houses,  usually  kept  by  a  widow  who 
has  known  better  days,  and  is  a  good  manager,  and  can  teach  and 
discipline  servants. 

During  a  former  tour,  we  had  found  it  irksome  to  submit  to 
the  rules  of  a  boarding-house  for  any  length  of  time ;  to  take  every 
meal  at  a  public  table,  where  you  are  expected  to  play  the  agree- 
able to  companions  often  uncongenial,  and  brought  together  on 
iLD  principle  of  selection  ;  to  join  them  in  the  drawing-room  a  short 
time  before  dinner ;  to  call  on  them  in  their  rooms,  and  to  listen 
to  gossip  and  complaints  about  the  petty  quarrels  which  so  often 
arise  among  fellow-boarders,  as  in  a  ship  during  a  long  voyage. 
The  only  alternative  is  to  get  private  rooms  in  an  hotel,  whFch 
I  at  length  succeeded  in  procuring  at  the  Tremont  House,  after 
I  had  failed  in  negotiating  a  treaty  with  several  landlords  to 
whom  I  had  been  recommended.  One  ol  these,  after  showing 
me  his  apartments,  and  stating  his  terms,  ended  by  saying,  "Ours 
is  a  temperance  house — ^prayers  orthodox."  T  presume  that  my 
countenance  betrayed  the  amusement  which  this  last  piece  of  in- 


Chap*  IX.] 


EXCESSIVE  INDUSTRY. 


123 


telligenct  afforded  me,  for  he  instantly  added,  in  an  under  tone, 
"  But  if  you  and  your  lady  should  not  attend  prayers,  it  will  not 
be  noticed." 

A  Bostonian,  who  had  returned  from  a  tour  in  England  and 
Ireland,  much  struck  with  the  poverty  of  the  lower  classes,  and 
with  the  difficulties  experienced  by  those  who  are  struggling  to 
rise  in  the  world,  remarked  to  me,  "  We  ought  to  he  happier 
than  the  English,  although  we  do  not  look  so."  There  is,  in 
fact,  a  care-worn  expression  in  the  countenances  of  the  New 
Englanders,  which  arises  partly  from  their  striving  and  anxious 
disposition,  and  their  habits  of  hard  work,  mental  and  bodily, 
and  partly  from  the  effects  of  the  climate. 

One  of  their  lawyers  expressed  to  me  his  regret  that  the  mem- 
bers of  his  profession,  and  their  most  eminent  politicians,  physicians, 
and  literary  men,  would  not  spare  themselves,  and  give  up  some 
time  to  relaxation.  "  They  seem  determined,"  he  said,  « to 
realize  the  sentiment  so  finely  expressed  by  Milton — 

'  To  scorn  delights,  and  live  laborious  days.' 

Our  ancestors  had  to  work  fifteen  hours  out  of  every  twenty-four, 
in  order  not  to  starve  in  the  wilderness ;  but  we  persist  in  strain- 
ing every  nerve  when  that  necessity  has  ceased."  He  then 
reminded  me  how  much  more  cheerful,  plump,  and  merry  the 
young  negro  children  looked  in  the  South,  than  those  of  New 
England,  who  had  all  the  appearance  of  having  been  forced  in 
their  education,  and  over-crarmned  at  school. 

I  suspect,  however,  that  the  principal  cause  of  the  different 
aspect  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  England  and  America  is  the" 
climate.  During  both  our  tours  through  the  United  States,  my 
wife  and  I  enjoyed  excellent  health,  and  were  delighted  with  the 
clearness  of  the  atmosphere,  the  bright  sun,  and  the  great  num- 
ber of  cloudless  days ;  but  we  were  told  that,  if  we  staid  a 
second  year,  we  should  feel  less  vigorous.  Many  who  have  been 
born  in  America,  of  families  settled  there  for  several  generations, 
find  their  health  improved  by  a  visit  to  England,  just  as  if  theji 
had  returned  to  their  native  ::'.r ;  and  it  may  require  several 
centuries  before  a  race  beeoiiies  thoroughly  acclimatized. 


l  ifP 


I 


124 


EFFECTS  OF  CLIMATE  ON  HEALTH.        [Chap.  IX. 


The  great  difference  of  the  species  of  indigenous  animals  and 
plants  in  North  America,  those  of  the  middle  and  southern  states 
being  almost  all  distinct  from  the  European,  points  to  a  wide 
diversity  of  climate,  the  atmosphere  being  drier,  and  there  being 
a  much  greater  annual  range  of  the  thermometer  than  in  cor- 
responding latitudes  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  Atlantic.     Even 
BO  cosmopolite  a  being  as  man  may  demand  more  than  two 
centuries  and  a  quarter  before  he  can  entirely  accommodate  his 
constitution  to  such  altered  circumstances,  and  before  the  succes- 
sive generations  of  parents  can  acquire  themselves,  and  transmit 
to  their  offspring,  the  new  and  requisite  physiological  peculiarities. 
English  travelers  often  ascribe  the  more  delicate  health  of  the 
inhabitants  here  to  their  in-door  habits  and  want  of  exercise. 
But  it  is  natural  that  they  should  shrink  from  exposing  them- 
selves to  the  severe  frosts  and  long-continued  snows  of  winter, 
and  to  the  intense  heat  of  the  summer's  sun.     An  EngHshman 
is  usually  recognized  at  once  in  a  party,  by  a  more  robust  look, 
and  greater  clearness  and  ruddiness  of  complexion;   and  it  is 
surprising  how  distinguishable  he  is  even  from  persons  born  of 
English  parents  in  the  United  States.     It  is  also  a  curious  fact, 
which  seems  generally  admitted,  that  the  native  Anglo-Austra- 
lians bear  a  considerable  resemblance  to  the  Anglo-Americans  in 
look  and  manner  of  speaking,  which  is  9,  mystery,  for  there  is 
certainly  in  that  case  no  analogy  between  the  climates  of  the 
.  two  countries. 

The  number  of  persons  in  Boston  who  have  earned  in  business, 
or  have  inherited  large  fortunes,  is  very  great.  The  Common, 
a  small  park,  which  is  by  no  means  the  only  quarter  frequented 
by  rich  citizens,  is  surrounded  by  houses  which  might  form  two 
fine  squares  in  London,  and  the  average  value  of  which,  in  the 
market,  might  bear  a  comparison  with  those  in  very  fashionable 
parts  of  our  metropolis — sums  of  from  4000/.  to  20,000/.  ster- 
ling having  been  paid  for  them.  The  greater  part  of  these 
buildings  are  the  property  of  the  persons  who  reside  in  them ; 
and  they  are  fitted  up  very  elegantly,  and  often  expensively. 
Entertainments  in  a  sumptuous  style  are  not  rare ;  but  the  small 
number  of  servants  in  companson  with  those  kept  in  England  by 


Chap.  IX.] 


STYLE  OF  LIVING— SERVANTS. 


125 


persons  of  corresponding  income,  and  the  want  of  an  equipage, 
impart  to  their  mode  of  life  an  appearance  of  simplicity  which 
is  perhaps  more  the  result  of  necessity  than  of  deference  to  a 
republican  theory  of  equality.  For  to  keep  servants  here  for 
mere  show,  would  not  only  be  thought  absurd,  but  would  be  a 
great  sacrifice  of  comfort.  To  obtain  a  few  efficient  ones  at  any 
price,  and  to  put  up  with  many  inconveniences  rather  than  part 
with  them — allowing  them  to  continue  in  service  after  marriage, 
is  the  practice  of  not  a  few  of  the  richest  people,  who  often  keep 
no  more  than  four  domestics  where  there  would  be  at  least  nine 
in  London.  In  consequence  of  this  state  of  things,  the  ladies  are 
more  independent  of  being  waited  on  than  those  of  similar  fortune 
in  England ;  but  we  are  sometimes  amused  when  we  hear  them 
express  envy  of  the  superior  advantages  enjoyed  in  Europe,  for 
they  are  under  the  delusion  of  supposing  that  large  establish- 
ments give  no  trouble  in  "  the  old  country,"  There  are,  indeed, 
crowds  of  poor  emigrants  here,  especially  from  Ireland,  eager  for 
employment ;  but  for  the  most  part  so  coarse,  ignorant,  and  dirty 
in  their  habits,  that  they  can  not  gain  admittance  into  genteel 
houses.  No  mistress  here  ventures  to  interfere  with  the  dress  of 
a  servant  maid,  and  girls  wait  at  table  with  braided  hair,  which 
is  certainly  more  becoming  to  them  when  young,  and  are  n^ver 
required  to  conceal  with  a  cap  their  neatly  arranged  locks, 
according  to  the  costume  approved  of  by  English  disciplinarians. 
When  raising  the  dust  at  their  work,  in  sweeping  the  floors, 
they  cover  the  head  with  a  handkerchief.  The  New  England 
servants  are  generally  provident,  for,  besides  the  intelligence  they 
derive  from  their  early  school  education,  they  have  a  reasonable 
hope  of  bettering  their  condition,  are  well  paid,  and  not  kept 
down  in  the  world  by  a  number  of  poor  relations. 

Many  of  the  wealthiest  families  keep  no  carriage,  for,  as  I 
before  said,  no  one  affects  to  live  in  style,  and  the  trouble  of 
engaging  a  good  coachman  and  groom  would  be  considerable, 
and  also  because  the  distances  in  Boston  are  small,  and  the 
facilities  of  traveling  by  railway  into  the  country  in  all  directions 
very  great.  But  there  are  many  livery  stables,  where  excellent 
carriages  and  horses  are  to  be  hired  with  well-dressed  drivers. 


^t^1 


nr 


i!:l 


126 


EDUCATION  OF  LADIES. 


LOhap.  IX 


I 


Some  of  their  vehicles  are  fitted  up  with  India-rubber  tubes  to 
enable  those  inside  to  communicate  with  the  coachman  without 
letting  down  the  glass,  which,  during  a  severe  New  England 
frost,  or  a  snow  storm,  must  be  no  unmeaning  luxury. 
^  They  who  can  not  afford  to  live  in  the  metropolis,  reside  with 
their  families  at  places  often  twenty-five  miles  distant,  such  as 
Ipswich,  and  go  into  their  shops  and  counting-houses  every  morn- 
mg,  paying  100  dollars  (or  twenty  guineas),  for  an  annual  ticket 
on  the  railway,  and  being  less  than  an  hour  at  a  time  on  the 
road. 

The  usual  hours  of  breakfasting  and  dining  here  are  much  earlier 
than  in  London ;  yet  evening  parties  in  the  most  fashionable 
society  do  not  begin  till  nine,  and  often  ten  o'clock,  which  appears 
a  senseless  imitation  of  foreign  manners,  and  calculated,  if  not 
intended,  to  draw  a  line  between  those  who  can  afibrd  to  turn 
night  into  day,  and  those  who  can  not. 

In  some  houses  the  gentlemen  go  up  after  dinner  with  the 
ladies,  as  in  France,  to  the  drawing-room ;  but  it  is  more  com- 
mon, as  m  England,  to  stay  a  while  and  talk  together      There 
IS  very  little  drinking,  and  I  scarcely  ever  heard  any  conversation 
m  which  the  women  might  not  have  joined  with  propriety. 
Bachelor  dinners  are  more  frequent  than  in  the  highest  circles 
m  London ;  but  there  is  beginning  to  be  a  change  in  this  respect 
and  certainly  the  ladies  are  well  able  to  play  their  part,  for  no 
care  or  expense  is  spared  to  give  them,  not  only  every  female 
accomplishment,  but  a  solid  education.     The  incomes  made  by 
some  men  of  superior  scholarship  and  general  knowled<re,  who 
devote  themselves  entirely  to  the  teaching  of  young  ladfes,  and, 
still  more,  the  station  held  by  these  teachers  in  society,  is  a  char 
acteristic  of  Boston  highly  deserving  of  praise  and  imitation. 

The  influence  of  cultivated  women  in  elevating  and  refining 
the  tone  of  society  and  the  national  mind,  may  nowhere  be  ren- 
dered more  effective  than  where  a  large  proportion  of  the  men 
are  engaged  in  mercantile  business,  and  belong  to  a  class  who 
have  too  truly  been  said  "  to  live  in  counting-houses  that  they 
may  sleep  m  palaces."  Their  wives  and  daughters  have  leisure 
to  acquire  literary  and  scientific  tastes,  and  to  improve  their 


Chap.  IX.] 


MARRIAGES. 


127 


understandings,  while  the  fathers,  husbands,  and  brothers  are 
summing  up  accounts,  attending  to  the  minute  details  of  business, 
or  driving  bargains. 

The  impress  of  the  strict  morals  of  the  Puritan  founders  of  the 
New  England  commonwealths  on  the  manners  of  their  descend- 
ants, is  still  very  marked.      Swearing  is  seldom  heard,  and  duel- 
ing has  been  successfully  discountenanced,  although  they  are  in 
constant  communication  with  the   southern  states,  where  both 
these  practices  are  common,  though  much  less  so  than  formerly. 
The  facility  of  getting  on  in  the  world,  and  marrying  young, 
is,  upon  the  whole,  most  favorable  to  the  morals  of  the  commu- 
nity, although  it  sometimes  leads  to  uncongenial  and  unhappy 
unions.     But,  as  a  set-off  to  this  evil,  it  should  be  stated,  that 
nowhere  is  there  so  much  free  choice  in  forming   matrimonial 
connections  without   regard  to  equality  of  fortune.     It  is  un- 
avoidable that  the  aristocracy  of  taste,  manners,  and  education 
should  create  barriers,  which  can  not  be  set  at  naught  without 
violence  to  the  feelings  ;  but  we  had  good  opportunities  of  know- 
ing that  parents  would  be  thought  far  more  unreasonable  here 
than  in  England,  and  in  some  other  states  of  the  Union,  if  they 
discouraged  alliances  on  the  mere  ground  of  one  of  the  parties 
being  without  fortune. 

The  most  eminent  medical  men  in  Boston  make,  I  am  told, 
about  9500  dollars  (2000Z.)  a  year,  and  their  early  career  is  one 
of  hard  striving  and  small  profits.  The  i/icomes  made  by  the 
first  lawyers  are  much  more  considerable,  and  I  hear  that,  when 
a  leading  practitioner  was  invited  to  transfer  his  business  from 
Boston  to  New  York,  because  he  might  be  employed  there  by  a 
population  of  400,000  souls,  he  declined,  saying,  that  his  clients 
were  drawn  from  a  population  nearly  equal  in  numbers  and  ave- 
rage wealth,  although  not  a  fourth  part  of  them  were  resident  in 
the  city  of  Boston. 

Bankruptcies  are  rarer  than  in  any  other  mercantile  community 
in  the  Union  of  equal  extent,  and,  when  they  do  occur,  larger 
dividends  are  paid  to  the  creditor.  As  most  of  the  rich  private 
citizens  live  within  their  income,  so  the  State  is  frugal,  and  al- 
though its  credit  stands  so  high  that  it  could  borrow  largely,  it 


128 


PROTECTIONIST  DOCTRINES. 


[Chap.  IX 


has  contracted  very  little  debt,  it  being  thought  advisable  to 
leave  the  execution  of  almost  every  kind  of  public  work  to  pri- 
vate  enterprise  and  capital. 

In  many  of  the  southern  and  western  states,  the  commercial 
policy  of  Massachusetts  was  represented  to  me  as  eminently 
selhsh,  the  great  capitalists  wishing  to  monopolize  the  manufac- 
turing trade,  and  by  a  high  tariff  to  exclude  foreign  capitalists, 
so  as  to  grow  rich  at  the  expense  of  other  parts  of  the  Union 
In  conversing  with  the  New  Englanders,  I  became  satisfied  that 
m  spite  of  the  writings  of  the  first  political  economists  in  Europe 
and  America,  and  the  opinion  of  Channing,  and  some  other  of 
their  own  distinguished  men  (not  excepting  Daniel  Webster  hira- 
se  f  in  the  early  part  of  his  career),  they  have  persuaded  them- 
selves that  the  doctrines  of  free  trade  are  not  applicable  to  the 
present  state  of  their  country.     The  faciUty  with  which  every 
people  conscientiously  accommodate  their  speculative  opinions  to 
their  local  and  individual  interests,  is  sufficiently  demonstrated 
by  the  fact,  that  each  of  the  other  states,  and  sections  of  states 
as  they  successively  embark  in  the  manufacture,  whether  of  cot- 
ton, iron,  or  other  articles,  become  immediately  converts  to  pro- 
tectionist views,  against  which  they  had  previously  declaimed 

There  is  a  general  feeling  of  self-respect  pervading  all  classes 
in  the  New  England  states,  which  enables  those  who  rise  in  the 
world,  whether  in  political  hfe,  or  by  suddenly  making  large  for- 
tunes in  trade,  if  they  have  true  gentihty  of  feehng,  to  take  their 
place  in  good  society  easily  and  naturally.  Their  power  of  ac- 
commodating themselves  to  their  new  position  is  greatly  facilitated 
by  the  instruction  imparted  in  the  free  schools  to  all,  however 
humble  in  station,  so  that  they  are  rarely  in  danger  of  betraying 
their  low  origin  by  ungrammatical  phrases  and  faulty  pronun- 
ciation. 

English  critics  are  in  the  habit  of  making  no  allowance  for 
the  slightest  variations  in  language,  pronunciation,  or  manners, 
m  any  people  descended  from  the  Anglican  stock.  In  the  Ger- 
mans or  French  they  may  think  a  deviation  from  the  British 
standard  odd  or  ridiculous,  but  in  an  American  they  set  it  down 
at  once  as  vulgar ;  whereas  it  may  be  one  of  those  conventional' 


Chap.  IX.] 


PECULIARITIES  OF  LANGUAGE. 


129 


isms,  respecting  which  every  nation  has  a  right  to  enforce  its  own 
arbitrary  rules.  The  frequent  use  of  the  words,  "  sir"  and 
"  ma'am,"  in  the  United  States,  like  "  oui,  monsieur,  oui,  ma- 
dame,"  in  France,  for  the  sake  of  softening  the  bald  and  abrupt 
••  yes"  or  "no,"  would  sound  to  a  I'renchman  or  Italian  more 
polite ;  and  if  ^he  Americans  were  to  conform  to  the  present 
English  model  in  such  trifles,  it  might  happen  that  in  England 
itself  the  fashion  may  soon  change.  There  are  also  many  gen- 
uine old  classical  phrases,  which  have  grown  obsolete  in  the 
parent  country,  and  which  the  Americans  retain,  ar.d  ought  not 
to  allow  themselves  to  be  laughed  out  of  The  title  of  Madam 
is  sometimes  given  here,  and  generally  in  Charleston  (S.  Carolina), 
and  in  the  South,  to  a  mother  whose  son  has  married,  and  the 
daughter-in-law  is  then  called  Mrs.  By  this  means  they  avoid 
the  inelegant  phraseology  of  old  Mrs.  A.,  or  the  Scotch,  Mrs.  A. 
senior.  Madam,  in  short,  very  commonly  ser/es  as  the  equiva- 
lent of  dowager,  as  used  in  English  titled  families.  There  are 
also  some  antique  provincialisms  handed  down  from  the  times  of 
the  first  settlers,  which  may  well  deserve  to  be  kept  up,  although 
they  may  be  subjects  of  diversion  to  English  tourists.  In  one 
of  Shirley's  plays,  written  just  before  the  middle  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  when  the  largest  emigration  took  place  from  Old 
to  New  England,  we  find  the  term,  "  I  guess,"  for  "  I  think,"  or 
"  I  suppose,"  occurring  frequently  ;  and  if  we  look  farther  back, 
it  is  met  with  in  the  "  Miller's  Tale"  and  in  the  "  Monk"  of 
Chaucer : — 

..."  For  little  heaviness 
Is  right  enough  for  mucbel  folk,  I  guess." 

And  in  Spenser's  "  Faerie  Queene" — 

''  It  seemed  a  second  Paradise,  I  guesse."* 

Among  the  most  common  singularities  of  expression  are  the 
following  : — "  I  should  admire  to  see  him"  for  '« I  should  like  to 
see  him  ;"  "I  want  to  know,"  and  "  Do  tell,"  both  exclamations 
of  surprise,  answering  to  our  "  Dear  me."  These  last,  how- 
ever, are  rarely  heard  in  society  above  the  middling  class.     Occa- 

*  Canto  X.  23. 


130 


LITERARY  TASTES. 


[Ohap.  IX 


sionaUy  I  waa  as  much  puzzled  as  if  I  was  reading  Tarn  o'Shanter, 
as,  for  example,  "  out  of  kittel"  means  "  out  of  order."  The  word 
"  sick"  is  used  in  New  England  in  the  same  sense  as  it  was  in 
the  time  of  Shakspeare,  or  when  the  liturgy  of  the  Church  of 
England  was  composed.  The  word  "ill,"  which  in  Great 
Britain  means  "not  well,"  signifies  in  America  "very  ill." 
They  often  speak  here  of  a  "  lovely  man,"  using  the  adjective  in 
a  moral  sense ;  and  say  of  a  plain,  shriveled  old  woman,  that 
she  is  "a  fine  and  lovely  woman,"  meaning  that  her  character 
and  disposition  are  amiable.  "Clever"  is  applied  to  a  good- 
natured  and  good-hearted  person  who  is  without  talent  and 
quickness.  At  first  we  had  many  a  good  laugh  when  we  dis- 
covered that  we  had  been  at  cross  purposes,  on  comparing  notes 
as  to  our  opinions  of  English  and  American  friends.  On  one 
occasion  I  admitted  that  Mrs.  A.  might  be  "  a  fine  and  lovely 
woman,"  but  it  could  only  be  said  of  her  by  candlelight. 

In  the  literary  circles  here  we  meet  with  several  writers  who 
are  keeping  up  an  active  correspondence  with  distinguished  men 
in  all  parts  of  Europe,  but  especially  with  English  authors. 

We  are  often  amused  to  observe  how  much  the  conversation 
turns  on  what  is  going  on  in  London.     One  day  I  was  asked 
whether  it  were  true  that  the  committee  for  deciding  on  the 
statues  to  be  set  up  in  the  new  House  of  Lords,  had  voted  in 
favor   of  Richardson,  before   they   could   make  up  their  minds 
whether  they  should  honor  Pope,  Dryden,  Swift,  and  Fieldincr- 
and  whether  Milton  was  at  first  black-balled,  and  how  they  could 
possibly  be  disputing  about  the  rival  claims  of  Hume  and  Robert- 
son as  historians,  while  a  greater  than  either  of  them,  Gibbon, 
was  left  out  of  the  question.      They  suggested  that  a  tribunal  of 
literary  Jews  might  soon  be  required  to  pronounce  fairly  on  the 
merits  of  Christian  writers.      "  Do  your  countrymen,"  said  one 
of  my  friends  to  me,  "mean  to  imitate  the  spirit  of  the  king  of 
Bavaria,  who  excluded  Luther  from  his  Walhalla  because  he 
was  a  Protestant,  and  instead  of  Shakspeare  and  Newton  could 
endure  no  representatives  of  British  genius,  save  the  orthodox 
Iving  Alfred  and  Roger  Bacon  ?"     I  was  curious,  when  I  got 
home,  to  learn  how  much  of  this  gossip  about  things  in  the  old 


H 


Chap.  IX. 1 


COST  OF  LIVING. 


131 


country  was  founded  on  correct  information,  and  was  relieved  tc 
find  that  the  six  poets  ultimately  selected  were  Chaucer,  Spenser, 
Shakspeare,  Milton,  Dryden,  and  Pope  ;  a  result  which,  consid- 
ering that  a  single  black  ball  excluded,  did  credit  to  the  umpires, 
and  would,  I  am  sure,  be  approved  of  by  a  literary  jury  in 
Massachusetts.  I  was  also  glad  to  learn  that  in  Bavaria,  as 
soon  as  political  parties  changed,  a  royal  order  was  issued  to 
admit  the  bust  of  Luther  into  the  Walhalla. 

The  Americans,  in  general,  have  -more  self-possession  and  self- 
confidence  than  Englishmen,  although  this  characteristic  belongs 
perhaps  less  to  the  Bostonians  than  to  the  citizens  of  most  of  the 
other  parts  of  the  Union.  On  the  other  hand,  the  members  of 
the  great  republic  are  sensitive  and  touchy  about  their  country, 
a  point  on  which  the  English  are  imperturbably  indifierent, 
being  proud  of  every  thing  British,  even  to  a  fault,  since  con- 
tempt for  the  opinion  of  other  nations  may  be  carried  so  far  as  to 
diminish  the  prospect  of  national  improvement.  It  might  bo 
better  if  each  of  the  great  branches  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  family 
would  borrow  something  from  the  qualities  of  the  other, — if 
John  Bull  had  less  mauvais  honte,  so  as  to  care  less  for  what 
others  were  thinlcing  of  himself  individually,  and  if  Jonathan 
cared  less  for  what  others  are  thinking  of  his  country. 

The  expense  of  living  in  the  northern  states  is,  upon  the 
whole,  decidedly  more  reasonable  than  in  England,  although  the 
dress,  botli  of  men  and  women,  is  somewhat  dearer.  In  Boston, 
also,  the  rent  of  houses  is  very  high,  but  not  so  in  the  country, 
'^raveling  is  much  cheaper,  and  so  are  food,  newspapers,  and 
ooks.     On  comparing  the  average  price  of  bread  during  the  pre- 

""  year  with  that  in  England,  we  find  that  it  is  about  twenty- 
.VQ  per  cent,  cheaper,  beef  and  mutton  ten  per  cent,  cheaper,  and 
the  price  of  poultry  extremely  moderate.  Why,  in  so  old  a  city 
as  Boston,  the  supply  of  seamstresses,  milliners,  and  dressinakers, 
should  be  as  inadequate  to  the  demand  as  in  some  of  our  newly- 
founded  colonies  when  most  progressive,  I  leave  to  political 
economists  to  explain.  My  wife  was  desirous  of  having  a  dress 
and  bonnet  made  up  in  a  week,  but  one  milliner  after  another 
declined  to  undertake  the  task.     It  would  be  a  useful  lesson  to 


132 


ALARMS  OF  FIRE. 


[Chap.  IX 


those  who  aro  accustomed  to  consider  themselves  as  patroni 
whenever  they  engage  others  to  do  work  ibr  them,  to  learn 
how  in  reality,  if  things  are  in  a  healthy  state,  the  obligation  is 
mutual ;  but  to  discover  that  the  usual  relations  of  the  employer 
and  employed  are  entirely  reversed,  and  that  the  favor  is  by  no 
rneans  conferred  by  the  purchaser,  would  try  the  patience  of  most 
travelers.  Friends  interceded,  but  in  vain  ;  till,  at  last,  a  repre- 
sentation was  made  to  one  of  these  important  personages,  that  my 
wife  was  about  to  leave  the  city  on  a  fixed  day,  and  that  being 
a  foreigner  she  ought,  out  of  courtesy,  to  be  assisted  ;  an  appeal 
which  was  successful,  and  the  work  was  then  undertaken  and 
sent  home  with  strict  punctuality,  neatly  mads,  and  every  spare 
scrap  of  the  material  honestly  returned,  the  charge  being  about 
equal  to  that  of  the  first  London  dressmakers. 

We  remarked  in  some  of  the  country  towns  of  Massachusetts, 
where  the  income  of  the  family  was  very  moderate,  that  the 
young  ladies  indulged  in  extravagant  dressing — 40Z.,  for  example, 
being  paid  for  a  shawl  in  one  instance.  Some  of  the  richer  class, 
who  had  returned  from  passing  a  year  or  two  in  Germany  and 
England,  had  been  much  struck  with  the  economical  habits,  in 
dress  and  in  the  luxuries  of  the  table,  of  persons  in  easy  circum- 
stances there,  and  the  example  had  not  been  lost  on  them. 

Oct.  28 — ^Night  after  night  the  church  bells  have  been  tolling 
the  alarm  of  fire,  followed  by  the  rattling  of  the  heavy  engines 
under  the  windows  of  our  hotel.  When  I  last  resided  here 
(1842),  I  was  told  that  half  of  these  conflagrations  were  caused 
by  incendiaries,  partly  by  boys  for  the  mere  love  of  mischief ;  but 
no  suspicions  of  this  kind  are  now  entertained.  Most  of  the 
buildings  are  of  wood,  and  it  is  hoped  that  the  increasing  use  of 
brick  in  the  private,  and  of  granite  in  the  public,  buildings  will 
lessen  the  evil.  The  combustibility  of  the  wood  of  the  white  or 
Weymouth  pine  (^Pinus  strobus),  largely  employed  in  houses 
here,  is  said  to  exceed  that  of  other  kinds  of  timber 


CHAPTER  X. 


Boston. — Blind  Asylum  and  Laura  Bridgeman. — Respect  for  Freedom  of 
Conscience. — Cemetery  of  Mount  Auburn. — Channing's  Cenotaph.^ 
Episcopal  Churches. — Unitarian  Congregations. — Eminent  Prcuchers.—- 
Progress  of  Unitarians  why  slow. — Their  Works  reprinted  in  England. — 
Nothingarians. — Episcopalian  Asceticism. — Separation  of  Religion  and 
Politics. 

During  our  stay  at  Boston  we  visited  the  Perkins'  Institution,  or 
Asylum  for  the  Blind,  and  found  Laura  Bridgman,  the  girl  who 
has  been  blind,  deaf  and  dumb  from  infancy,  much  grown  since 
we  saw  her  four  years  ago.  She  is  now  sixteen,  and  looks  very 
intelligent.  She  was  reading  when  we  entered,  and  we  were 
told  that  formerly,  when  so  engaged  and  alone,  she  used  to  make 
with  one  hand  the  signs  of  all  the  words  which  she  felt  out  with 
the  other,  just  as  an  illiterate  beginner  speaks  aloud  each  sentence 
as  he  spells  it.  But  the  process  of  conveying  the  meaning  of  the 
words  to  her  mind  is  now  far  too  rapid  for  such  delay,  and  the 
hand  not  occupied  in  reading  remains  motionless.  We  were 
afterward  delighted  to  watch  her  while  she  was  following  the 
conversation  of  two  other  dumb  children  who  were  using  the 
modern  single-hand  alphabet.  She  was  able  to  comprehend  all 
the  ideas  they  were  exchanging,  and  to  overhear,  as  it  were, 
every  word  they  said,  by  making  her  fingers  play,  with  fairy 
lightness,  over  theirs,  with  so  slight  a  touch,  as  not  in  the  least 
degree  to  interfere  with  the  freedom  of  their  motions.  We  saw 
her  afterward  talk  with  Dr.  Howe,  with  great  rapidity  and 
animation,  pointing  out  accurately  the  places  on  a  map  while  he 
gave  a  lesson  in  geography.  She  indulged  her  curiosity  in  exam- 
ining my  wife's  dress,  and,  taking  her  hand,  told  her  which  was 
her  wedding  ring,  and  then  began  to  teach  her  the  deaf  and  dumb 
alphabet.  She  is  always  aware  whether  it  is  a  lady's  hand  she 
touches,  and  is  shy  toward  a  stranger  of  the  other  sex.  As  she  is 
now  in  communication  with  no  less  than  a  hundred  acquaintances, 
she  has  grown  much  more  like  other  children  than  formerly. 


134 


BLIND  ASYLUM. 


[Chap.  X. 


"Wo  learnt  from  Dr.  IIowo  that  the  task  of  carrying  on  hor 
education  has  become  more  and  more  arduous,  for  she  is  naturally 
clover,  und  her  reflective  powers  have  unavoidably  ripened  much 
faster  than  the  perceptive  ;  so  that  at  an  age  when  other  children 
would  be  satisfied  to  accumulate  facts  by  the  use  of  their  eyes, 
her  chief  curiosity  is  directed  to  know  the  causes  of  things.  In 
reading  history,  for  example,  where  there  is  usually  a  continued 
description  of  wars  and  battles,  she  must  be  told  the  jnotives  for 
which  men  slaughter  each  other,  and  is  so  distressed  at  their 
wickedness,  that  she  can  scarcely  be  induced  to  pursue  the 
study. 

To  be  able  to  appreciate  justly  the  judicious  treatment  of  those  ' 
to  whose  training  she  owes  her  wonderful  progress,  it  would  be 
necessary  to  be  pracdcally  acquainted  with  the  disappointments 
of  persons  who  undertake  to  teach  pupils  who  are  simply  blind, 
and  not  sufTering,  like  Laura,  under  the  double  privation  of  the 
senses  of  sight  and  heaoring. 

Great  pains  had  been  taken  to  make  one  of  the  boys,  whom 
we  saw,  have  a  correct  idea  of  a  horse ,  he  had  got  by  rote  a 
long  list  of  chai:fl,cteristic8,  and  had  felt  the  animal,  and  the 
mortification  of  the  master  may  be  conceived  on  discovering  that 
aftci  all  the  child  could  not  be  sure  whether  the  creature  had 
three,  four,  or  five  legs.  After  a  few  days'  intercourse  with  the 
Mind,  we  no  longer  marvel  that  precocious  children,  who  begin 
to  read  early  and  get  by  heart  and  recite  long  poems,  or  become 
knowing  by  keeping  company  with  grown-up  people,  are  so  often 
overtaken  or  left  behind  by  those  who  have  been  neglected,  and 
have  spent  their  time  at  play.  For  when  the  truants  are  sup- 
posed  to  be  most  idle,  they  may,  in  reality,  be  storing  their  minds 
with  a  multitude  of  facts,  to  give  a  detailed  description  of  wiiich 
to  a  student,  in  or  out  of  a  blind  asylum,  would  fill  volumes. 

Dr.  Howe  told  us  of  a  blind  Frenchman  in  the  establishment, 
who  could  guess  the  age  of  strangers,  by  hearing  their  voices,' 
much  more  accurately  than  he  and  others  who  could  see  as  weU 
as  talk  with  them. 

On  looking  over  the  annual  reports  of  the  trustees,  I  observed 
that  on  Sunday  the  pupils,  about  a  hundred  in  number,  and 


Chap.  X.] 


CKMBTERY  OF  MOUNT  AUBURN. 


135 


belonging  to  various  sects,  attend  public  ^vorship  in  several 
(lilibrent  churches,  thoy  themselves,  or  their  parents,  choosing 
some  particular  church.  "  Many  of  them,"  says  the  report, 
"attend  Sabbath  schools,  and,  as  care  is  taken  to  exclude  sect- 
arian doctrines  from  the  regular  course  of  instruction,  the  opinions 
of  the  pupils  respecting  doctrinal  matters  in  religion  are  formed 
upon  the  basis  prescribed  by  the  parents." 

The  assurance  here  given  to  the  public  is  characteristic  of  a 
settled  purpose,  every  where  displaved  by  the  New  Englanders, 
to  prevent  their  charitable  bequests,  as  well  as  their  great  educa- 
tional establishments,  from  becoming  instruments  of  proselytizing, 
or  serving  as  bribes,  to  tempt  parents,  pupils,  or  the  poor  to 
renounce  any  part  of  their  hereditary  creed  for  the  sake  of  world- 
ly advantages.  Such  conduct,  implying  great  delicacy  of  feeling 
in  matters  of  conscience,  and  a  prolbund  respect  for  the  sacredness 
of  religious  obligations,  is  worthy  of  the  descendants  of  men  who 
went  into  exile,  and  braved  the  wilderness  and  the  Indian  torn 
ahawk,  rather  than"  conform  outwardly  to  creeds  and  rituals  of 
which  they  disapproved. 

Oct.  29 — Went  to  Cambridge  to  visit  the  cemetery  of  Mount 
Auburn,  where  a  large  extent  of  wild,  unreclaimed,  hilly  ground, 
covered  with  oak  and  pine,  has  been  inclosed  for  a  public  burial- 
place.  From  the  highest  eminence  there  is  a  fine  view  of  the 
surrounding  country.  Since  I  was  here  in  1842,  a  chapel  has 
been  crested  of  granite,  in  the  Gothic  style,  and  in  good  taste, 
with  painted  glass  from  Edinburgh  in  the  windows,  and  a  hand- 
some entrance  gate.  The  chapel  is  to  serve  as  a  Westminster 
Abbey,  Pantheon,  or  Walhalla,  to  contain  statues,  busts,  and 
monuments  of  distinguished  men.  A  cenotaph  has  been  placed 
in  the  grounds  in  honor  of  Dr.  Charming,  with  an  inscription 
wrritten  by  a  friend,  in  a  plain,  unambitious  style,  such  as  Chan- 
ning  himself  would  have  wished.  I  rejoiced  to  hear  that  as  his 
funeral  procession  was  passing  through  the  streets  of  Boston,  the 
bell  of  the  Roman  Catholic  chapel  was  tolled  among  the  rest, 
and  I  recollected  with  pleasure  the  conversations  I  had  had 
with  him  in  1841.  They  who  witness  the  impulse  given  by 
him  to  the  cause  of  popular  education,  the  increasing  liberality  rf 


13B 


EPISCOPAL  CHURCHES. 


[Chap.  X 


eentiraent  in  New  England  on  matters  of  religion,  and  the  great 
popularity  of  his  works,  might  desire  to  inscribe  on  his  tomb 

"E'en  in  his  ashes  live  their  wonted  fires." 

Some  of  the  Episcopal  churches  in  Boston  are  conducted  on 
the  high,  and  others  on  the  low  church  model ;  and  the  Tracta- 
rian  movement  has  ha!l  the  effect  here,  as  in  England,  not  of 
establishing  uniformity  by  a  strict  adherence  to  one  rubric,  but 
of  producmg  a  much  greater  variety  than  formerly  in  the  man- 
ner of  performing  public  worship.     If,  besides  striking  out  the 
Athanasian  Creed,  the  American  Episcopal  Church  had  omitted 
the  Nicene  Creed,  as  they  first  proposed  in  1785,  and  had  con- 
densed and  abridged  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  to  twenty,  measures 
from  which  they  were  dissuaded  by  the  English  hierarchy,  from 
whose  hands  their  first  bishops  required  consecration,  a  schism 
might  probably  have  taken  place  when  the  Tractarian  movement 
occurred,  and  they  might  have  separated  into  two  churches  far 
more  distinct  than  that  of  the  Drummondites  and  their  opponents, 
or  the  partisans  of  the  Scotch  and  English  rub'ric  north  of  the  Tweed! 
In  the  Stone,  or  King's  Chapel,  the  English  liturgy  is  used, 
with  such  omissions  and  alterations  as  are  required  to  suit  the 
opinions  of  Unitarians,  for  that  chapel  was  transferred  from  the 
Anglican  to  the   Unitarian  Church  by  the  conversion  of  the 
minister  and  majority  of  the  pew-holders.     But  in  almost  all  the 
other  Unitarian  cliurches,  the  service  resembles  in  form  that  of 
the  established  church  of  Scotland.     Before  my  first  visit  to 
Boston,  I  had  been  led  to  believe  that  the  majority  of  the 
citizens  were  Unitarians;  whereas  I  found,  on  inquiry,   that 
although  they  may  exceed  in  number  any  other  single  sect,  and 
comprise  not  a  few  of  the  richest  citizens,  they  do  not  constitute 
above  one-fifth  of  the  whole  population,  and  scarcely  more  than 
a  tenth  in  Massachusetts  generally.     There  is,  however,  another 
sect,  calling  themselves  Christians  (pronounced  Christians),  pre- 
vailing largely  in  New  England,  which  denies  the  doctrine  of 
the  Trinity,  and  I  am  told  that  many  who  worship  in  other 
"orthodox"  congregations  are  heterodox  on  this  point,  although 
they  do  not  choose  to  become  separatists.     One  of  them  observed 


Chap.  X.] 


UNITARIAN  CONGREGATIONS. 


13? 


to  me  that  he  thought  it  nearly  as  presumptuous  to  acquiesce  in 
the  negative  as  in  the  affirmative  of  the  propositions  laid  dowa 
on  this  subject  in  the  Athanasian  Creed.  "  We  are,"  he  said, 
"like  children  born  blind,  disputing  about  colors." 

The  prominent  position  occupied  by  the  Unitarians  arises,  not 
from  their  number,  nor  their  wealth,  however  considerable  this 
may  be,  but  from  their  talent,  earnestness,  and  knowledge. 
iVEany  of  the  leading  minds  in  the  Union  belong  to  this  sect,  and 
among  them,  Channing,  Sparks,  Dewey,  and  other  well-known 
authors,  have  been  converts  from  the  Congregationalists. 

To  have  no  creed,  no  standard  to  rally  round,  nr  fixed  canons 
of  interpretation  of  Scripture,  is  said  to  be  fatal  to  their  progress. 
Yet  one  of  ii^eir  body  remarked  to  me  that  they  might  be  well 
satisfied  that  they  were  gaining  ground,  when  it  could  be  said 
that  in  the  last  thirty  years  (since  1815)  the  number  of  their 
ministers  had  increased  in  a  tenfold  ratio,  or  from  fifty  to  five 
hundred,  whereas  the  population  had  only  doubled  in  twenty-five 
years.  He  also  reminded  me  that  their  ranks  are  scarcely  ever 
recruited  from  foreign  emigrants,  from  whom  the  Romanists, 
Presbyterians,  Methodists,  Baptists,  and  Episcopalians  annually 
draw  large  accessions.  A  more  kindly  feeling  has  of  late  years 
sprung  up  between  the  Unitarians  and  Congregationalists,  because 
some  of  the  most  eminent  writers  of  both  sects  have  joined  in 
defending  themselves  against  a  common  adversary,  namely,  those 
rationalists  who  go  so  far  as  to  deny  the  historical  evidence  of  the 
mirdcles  related  in  the  New  Testament,  and  who,  in  some  other 
points,  depart  more  widely  from  the  Unitarian  standard,  than 
does  the  latter  from  that  of  Rome  itself.  Norton,  author  of 
"The  Genuineness  of  the  Gospels"  may  be  mentioned,  as  one 
of  the  celebrated  Unitarian  divines  who  has  extorted  from  the 
more  liberal  members  of  all  "  orthodox"  denominations  the  praise 
of  being  a  defender  of  the  faith. 

In  the  course  of  my  two  visits  to  the  United  States,  I  enjoyed 
opportunities  of  hearing  sermons  preached  by  many  of  the  most 
eminent  Unitarians—among  them  were  Channing,  Henry  Ware, 
Dewey,  Bellows,  Putnam,  and  Gannet — and  was  much  struck, 

Tinf   nnltr  ivitVi    ■fVioir   trnnfi    aanaa   anA    ovfiAitif\n     lint  twifli    fVta  fafxrnif 


138  EMINENT  PREACHERS— CHANNING'S  WORKS.    [Chap.  X. 


of  their  eloquence.     I  had  been   given   to   understand  that   I 
Bhould  find  a  want  of  warmth  in  their  discourses,  that  they  were 
too  cold  and  philosophical,  and  wanting  in  devotional  feeling ; 
but,  on  the  contrary,  there  were  many  of  them  most  impressive, 
full  of  earnestness  and  zeal,  as  well  as  of  original  views  and 
instruction.     One  of  the  chief  characteristics  was  the  rare  allu- 
sion made  to  the  Old  Testament,  or  to  controverted  points  of 
doctrine,  or  to  the  mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  the 
frequency  with  which  they  dwelt  on  the  moral  precepts  and 
practical  lessons  of  the  Gospels,   especially  the  preaching  of 
Christ  himself     Occasional  exhortations  to  the  faithful,  cheer- 
fully to  endure  obloquy  for  the  sake  of  truth,  and  to  pay  no  court 
to  popularity,  an  undue  craving  for  which  was,  they  said,  the 
bane  of  a  democracy,  convinced  me  how  much  the  idea  of  their 
standing  in  a  hostile  position  to  a  large  numerical  majority  of  the 
community  was  present  to  their  minds.     On  some  occasions, 
however,  reference  was  naturally  made  to  doctrinal  points,  par- 
ticularly to  the  humanity  of  Christ,  his  kindred  nature,  and  its 
distinctness  from  that  of  the  eternal,  omnipotent,  and  incorporeal 
Spirit  which  framed  the  universe ;  but  chiefly  on  occasions  when 
the  orator  was  desirous  of  awakening  in  the  hearts  of  his  hearers 
emotions  of  tenderness,  pity,  gratitude,  and  love,  by  dwelling  on 
the  bodily  sufferings  of  the  Redeemer  on  the  cross.     More  than 
once  have  I  seen  these  appeals  produce  so  deep  a  sensation,  as  to 
move  a  highly  educated  audience  to  tears ;  and  I  came  away 
assured  that  they  who  imagine  this  form  of  Christianity  to  be 
essentially  cold,  lifeless,  and  incapable  of  reaching  the  heart,  or 
of  powerfully  influencing  the  conduct  of  men,  can  never  have 
enjoyed  opportunities  of  listening  to  their  most  gifted  preachers, 
or  had  a  large  personal  intercourse  with  the  members  of  the  sect. 
When  I  wished  to  purchase  a  copy  of  the  writings  of  Chan- 
ning  and  of  I/ewey  in  Boston,  I  was  told  that  I  could  obtain 
more  complete  and  cheaper  editions  in  London  than  in  the  Unit- 
ed States ;  a  proof,  not  only  how  much  they  are  read  in  England, 
but  that  the  pecuniary  interests  of  British  authors  are  not  the 
mly  ones  which  sufl:er  by  the  want  of  in  international  copyright. 
On  inquiring  of  the  publishers  at  Boston,  as  to  the  extent  of  the 


Chap.  X.] 


NOTHINGARIANS. 


139 


Bale  of  Channing's  works  in  the  United  States,  I  was  informed 
that  several  of  them,  published  separately,  had  gone  through 
many  editions,  and  no  less  than  9000  copies  of  the  whole,  in  six 
volumes,  had  been  sold  already  (1845),  and  the  demand  for  them 
was  on  the  increase,  many  copies  having  been  recently  ordered 
from  distant  places  in  the  West,  such  as  St.  Louis  and  Chicago- 
A  reprint  of  the  same  edition  at  Glasgow,  has  circulated  widely 
in  England,  and  the  reading  of  it  in  America  is  by  no  means 
confined  to  Unitarians,  the  divines  of  other  denominations, 
especially  the  Calvinists,  being  desirous  to  know  what  has  been 
written  against  them  by  their  great  antagonist. 

Having  been  informed  by  one  of  my  friends  that  about  a  fifth 
of  all  the  New  Englanders  were  "  Nothingarians,"  I  tried,  but 
with  little  success,  to  discover  the  strict  meanisig  of  the  term. 
Nothing  seems  more  vague  and  indefinite  than  the  manner  of  its 
application.  I  fancied  at  first  that  it  might  signify  deists  or  in- 
fidels, or  persons  careless  about  any  religious  faith,  or  who  were 
not  church-goers ;  but,  although  it  may  sometimes  signify  one  or 
all  of  these,  I  found  it  was  usually  quite  otherwise.  The  term 
latitudinarian,  used  in  a  good  sense,  appeared  most  commonly  to 
convey  the  meaning ;  for  a  Nothingarian,  I  was  informed,  was 
indifferent  whether  he  attended  a  Baptist,  Methodist,  Presbyte- 
rian, or  Congregationalist  church,  and  was  often  equally  inclined 
to  contribute  money  liberally  to  any  one  or  all  of  them.  A  Meth- 
odist writer  of  some  eminence  remarked  to  me,  that  the  range  of 
doctrines  embraced  by  these  denominations,  was  not  greater,  if  so 
great,  as  that  which  comprehended  within  the  same  pale  a  high 
tractarian  and  a  low  churchman,  and  that  he  who  would  indiffer- 
ently subscribe  to  these  two  forms  of  Episcopalianism,  might  with 
equal  propriety  be  styled  a  Nothingarian.  In  other  cases  I  as- 
certained tha":  the  term  Nothingarian  was  simply  used  for  persons 
who,  though  luey  attended  worship  regularly  in  some  church,  had 
never  been  communicants.  One  of  the  latter,  an  Episcopalian, 
once  said  to  me,  "  I  have  never  joined  any  church ;"  and  then 
in  explanation  added,  "  it  would  be  hard  at  my  age  to  renounce 
society,  dancing,  and  public  amusements,"  I  expostulated  soon 
afterward  with  an  Episcopalian  minister  in  Virginia,  observing 


HO 


RELIGION  AND  POLITICS. 


[Chap.  X. 


that  such  ideas  of  austerity  and  asceticism  were  not  consistent 
with  the  spirit  of  the  Anglican  Church.  This  he  admitted,  but 
pleaded  the  absolute  necessity  of  extreme  strictness  to  enable  them 
to  efface  the  stigma  transmitted  to  them  from  colonial  times  ;  for 
in  the  Southern  states,  particularly  in  Virginia,  the  patronage  of 
the  mother  country,  in  filling  up  livings,  was  for  a  century  scan- 
dalously abused,  and  so  many  young  men  of  profligate  and  im- 
moral habits  were  sent  out,  as  to  create  a  strong  prejudice  against 
the  Established  Church  of  England  in  the  minds  of  the  more 
zealous  and  sincere  religionists. 

On  one  of  my  voyages  home  from  America,  an  officer  of  rank 
in  the  British  army  lamented  that  the  governor  of  one  of  our  col- 
onies had  lately  appointed  as  Attorney-General  one  who  was  an 
atheist.  T  told  him  I  knew  the  lawyer  in  question  to  be  a  zeal- 
ous Baptist.  "  Yes,"  he  replied,  ««  Baptist,  Atheist,  or  something 
of  that  sort."  I  have  no  doubt  that  if  this  gallant  colonel  should 
visit  New  England,  his  estimate  of  the  proportion  of  Nothinga- 
rians in  the  population  would  be  very  liberal. 

Traveling  as  I  did  in  1845-6,  through  a  large  part  of  the 
Union,  immediately  aftsr  the  close  of  the  protracted  contest  for 
the  Presidency,  when  the  votes  in  favor  of  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr 
Polk  had  been  nearly  balanced,  I  was  surprised  to  find  in  the 
north,  south,  and  west,  how  few  of  the  Americans  with  whom  I 
conversed  as  traveling  companions,  could  tell  me  to  what  denom- 
ination of  Christians  these  two  gentlemen  belonged.  I  at  length 
ascertained  that  one  of  them  was  an  Episcopalian,  and  the  other 
a  Presbyterian.  This  ignorance  could  by  no  means  be  set  down 
to  indifferentism.  Had  one  of  the  candidates  been  a  man  of  im- 
moral character,  it  would  have  materially  affected  his  chance  of 
success,  or  probably  if  he  had  been  suspected  of  indifference  about 
religion,  and  not  a  few  of  the  politicians  whom  I  questioned  were 
strongly  imbued  with  sectarian  feelings  ;  but  it  was  clear  that  in 
the  choice  of  a  first  magistrate  their  minds  had  been  wholly  oc- 
cupied with  other  considerations,  and  the  separation  of  religion 
and  politics,  though  far  from  being  as  complete  as  might  be 
wished,  is  certainly  one  of  the  healthy  features  of  the  working  of 
the  American  institutions 


CHAPTER   XI. 

Boston. — Whig  Caucus. — Speech  of  Mr.  Webster. — Politics  in  Massachu- 
setts.— Election  of  Governor  and  Representatives. — Thanksgiving  Day 
and  Governor's  Proclamation. — Absence  of  Pauperism. — Irish  Repeal 
Meeting. — New  England  Sympathizer. — Visit  to  a  Free  School. — State 
Education. — Pay  and  Social  Rank  of  Teachers. — Importance  of  the  Pro- 
fession.— Rapid  Progress  and  Effects  of  Educational  Movement. — Popu- 
lar Lectures. — Lending  Libraries. 

Nov.  10,  1845. — ^Went  to  a  great  meeting  of  about  3500 
people  in  Faneuil  Hall,  where  they  were  discussing  the  election 
of  the  governor  and  executive  officers  of  the  State.  It  was  called 
a  Whig  caucus,  being  only  attended  by  persons  of  one  political 
party,  or  if  others  were  present,  they  were  there  only  by  courtesy, 
and  expected  to  be  silent,  and  not  interrupt  the  harmony  of  the 
proceedings.  When  I  entered,  I  found  Mr.  Daniel  Webster  on 
his  legs.  Since  the  arrival  of  the  last  mail  steamer  from  Liver- 
pool  fears  had  been  entertained  that  the  pretensions  of  the  Cabi- 
net of  Washington  to  the  whole,  or  greater  part  of  Oregon,  must 
end  in  a  war  between  England  and  the  United  States.  This 
topic  was  therefore  naturally  uppermost  in  the  minds  of  a  peace- 
loving  and  commercial  community^  The  cautious  and  measured 
expressions  of  the  Whig  statesman  when  out  of  office,  and  his 
evident  sense  of  the  serious  responsibility  incurred  by  one  who 
should  involve  two  great  nations  in  war,  formed  a  striking  con- 
trast to  the  unguarded  tone  of  the  late  inaugural  address  of  the 
President  of  the  Union  on  the  same  subject.  I  was  amused  to 
hear  frequent  references  made  to  the  recent  debate  in  the  British 
House  of  Commons,  the  exact  words  of  Sir  Robert  Peel  and 
others  being  quoted  and  commented  upon,  just  as  if  the  discussion 
had  been  simply  adjourned  from  Westminster  to  Boston.  The 
orator  rebuked  the  blustering  tone  of  defiance,  in  which  dema- 
gogues and  newspapers  in  some  parts  of  the  Union  were  indulg- 
ing against  England.     He  then  condemned  the  new  constitution 


143 


POLITICS  IN  MASSACHUSETTS. 


[Chap.  XI 


of  Texas,  which  prohibits  the  Legislature  from  ever  setting  the 
bondman  free,  and  deprecated  the  diversion  made  from  the  ranks 
of  the  Whigs  by  the  Abohtionists,  who,  by  setting  up  a  candi- 
date of  their  own  for  the  Presidentship,  had  enabled  their  oppo- 
nents to  carry  a  man  pledged  to  the  annexation  of  Texas.  At 
the  same  time  he  gave  this  party  the  credit  of  being  as  conscien- 
tious  as  they  were  impracticable.  He  then  aHuded  to  another 
"  separate  organization,"  as  it  is  here  called,  namelv,  that  of  the 
"Native  Americans,"  which  had  in  anner  defeated  the 

object  they  had  in  view,  by  dividing  th^  .ligs,  the  majority  of 
whom  agreed  in  thinking  the  present  naturalization  laws  very 
defective,  and  that  a  stop  should  be  put  to  fraudulent  voting. 
The  introduction  of  a  long  Latin  quotation  from  Cicero  showed 
that  the  speaker  reckoned  on  having  a  considerable  number  at 
loast  of  well-educated  men  in  his  large  audience.  The  frequent 
mention  of  the  name  of  Governor  George  N.  Briggs,  the  initial 
letter  only  of  the  second  appellative  being  pronounced,  grated 
strangely  on  m.y  English  ear ;  for  though  we  do  not  trouble  our- 
selves to  learn  all  the  Christian  names  of  our  best  actors,  as  Mr. 
T.  P.  Cooke  and  Miss  M.  Tree,  we  are  never  so  laconic  and 
unceremonious  in  dealing  with  eminent  public  men.  I  had  asked 
several  persons  what  K.  signified  in  the  name  of  the  President, 
James  K.  Polk,  before  I  ascertained  that  it  meant  Knox ;  but' 
in  the  United  States,  it  might  have  no  other  signification  than 
the  letter  K.  ;  for,  when  first  in  Boston,  I  requested  a  friend  to 
tell  me  what  B.  stood  for  in  his  name,  and  he  replied,  "  For 
nothing ;  my  surname  was  so  common  a  one,  that  letters  ad- 
dressed to  me  were  often  mis-sent,  so  I  got  the  Post-Ofiice  to 
allow  me  to  adopt  the  letter  B." 

I  came  away  from  this  and  other  public  meetings  convinced 
that  the  style  of  speaking  of  Mr.  Webster,  Mr.  Everett,  Mr.  Win- 
throp,  and  some  others,  would  take  greatly  in  England,  both  in 
and  out  of  parliament.  It  was  also  satisfactory  to  reflect,  that 
in  Massachusetts,  where  the  whole  population  is  more  educated 
than  elsewhere,  and  more  Anglo-American,  having  less  of  recent 
foreign  admixture,  whether  European  or  African,  the  dominant 
party  is  against  the  extension  of  slavery  to  new  regions  like  Texas, 


Chap.  XL] 


ELECTION. 


149 


against  territorial  aggrandizement,  whether  in  the  north  or  south, 
and  against  war.  They  are  in  a  minority  it  is  true  :  but  each 
state  in  the  Union  has  such  a  separate  and  independent  position, 
that,  like  a  distinct  nation,  it  can  continue  to  cherish  its  own 
principles  and  institutions,  and  set  an  example  to  the  rest,  which 
they  may  in  time  learn  to  imitate.  The  Whigs  were  originally 
in  favor  of  more  centralization,  or  of  giving  increased  power  to 
the  federal  executive,  while  the  democratic  party  did  all  they 
could  to  weaken  the  central  power,  and  successfully  contended  for 
the  sovereign  rights  and  privileges  of  each  member  of  the  confed- 
eration. In  so  doing  they  have  perhaps  inadvertently,  and  with- 
out seeing  the  bearing  of  their  policy,  guarded  the  older  and  more 
advanced  commonwealths  from  being  too  much  controlled  and 
kept  down  by  the  ascendency  of  newer  and  ruder  states. 

A  few  days  later,  I  went  to  see  the  electors  give  their  votes. 
Perfect  order  and  good-humor  prevailed,  although  the  contest 
was  a  keen  one.  As  I  approached  the  poll,  the  agents  of  differ- 
ent committees,  supposing  that  I  might  be  an  elector,  put  into 
my  hands  printed  lists,  containing  the  names  of  all  the  candidates 
for  .the  offices  of  Governor,  Lieutenant-governor,  five  senators, 
and  thirty-five  representatives.  Every  registered  voter  is  entitled 
to  put  one  of  these  "  tickets"  into  the  balloting  box.  The  ren.l 
struggle  was  between  the  Whigs  and  Democrats,  the  former  of 
whom  carried  the  day ;  but,  besides  their  tickets,  two  others  were 
presented  to  me,  one  called  the  Native  American,  and  the  other 
the  Working  Man's  ticket.  The  latter  had  for  its  emblem  a 
naked  arm,  wielding  a  hammer,  and  for  its  motto,  "  The  strong 
right  arm  of  labor."  The  five  senators  proposed  in  this  list, 
consisted  of  two  printers,  a  carpenter,  a  blacksmith,  and  a  sur- 
veyor, and  among  the  representatives  were  four  shoemakers,  one 
tailor,  eight  carpenters,  four  printers,  an  engineer,  &c. 

I  heard  Americans  regret,  that  besides  caucuses  there  are  no 
public  meetings  here  where  matters  are  debated  by  persons  of 
opposite  parties  and  opinions,  such  as  are  sometimes  held  in  En- 
gland. I  was  surprised  to  hear  that  such  experiments  were  of 
rare  occurrence  in  a  country  where  men  opposed  in  politics 
frequently  argue  with  so  much  good  temper,  and  where,  in  so 


rSfc 


144 


THANKSGIVING  DAY. 


[Chap.  XI. 


11 
iiiiii 


liiii 


many  hotels  and  taverns,  newspapers  of  all  shades  of  opinion  are 
taken  in  just  as  in  our  great  club-houses  in  London,  affording 
opportunities  of  knowing  what  can  be  said  on  all  sides  of  every 
question.  I  have  since  learnt  from  correspondents,  that,  in  a 
period  of  political  excitement,  the  people  in  many  parts  of  Massa- 
chusetts have  begun  to  engage  different  lecturers  to  explain  to 
them  the  opposite  facts,  views,  and  arguments  adduced  for  and 
against  the  chief  subjects  under  discussion. 

Nov.  27 — This  day.  Thanksgiving  Day,  and  the  4th  of  July, 
Independence  Day,  are  the  only  two  holidays  in  the  American 
calendar.  The  Governor  has,  they  say,  as  usual,  made  a  bad 
guess  in  regard  to  weather,  for  there  is  a  pelting  rain.  It  was 
indeed  ascertained  by  actual  raeaourement  at  Cambridge,  that  in 
nineteen  hours  between  yesterday  evening  and  to-day,  at  four 
o'clock,  there  has  fallen  no  less  than  four  and  a  half  inches  of 
rain,  or  one-eighth  part  of  the  average  of  the  whole  year,  which 
amounts  to  thirty-six  inches  at  Boston.  By  this  unlucky  accident 
many  a  family  gathering  has  been  interrupted,  and  relatives  have 
been  unable  to  come  in  from  the  country  to  join  a  merry  meeting, 
corresponding  to  that  of  an  English  Christmas  Day.  Many  a 
sermon,  also,  carefully  prepared  for  the  occasion,  has  been  preached 
to  empty  pews ;  but  the  newspapers  inform  us,  that  some  of 
these  effusions  will  be  repeated  on  Sunday  next.  Sixteen  states 
have  now  adopted  this  New  England  custom  of  appointing  a  day 
for  thanksgiving,  and  it  is  spreading  fast,  having  already  reached 
South  Carolina,  and  even  Louisiana.  A  month  before,  I  had 
heard  vidth  interest  the  Governor's  proclamation,  read  in  all  the 
churches,  full  of  good  feehng  and  good  sense.  He  called  on  the 
people  of  the  state,  now  that  the  harvest  was  gathered  in,  to 
praise  the  God  of  Heaven  for  his  bounties,  and  in  their  cheerful 
family  circles  to  render  to  Him  a  tribute  of  thanksgiving  for  His 
goodness : — 

"  Let  us  praise  Him,  that,  under  His  protecting  Providence,  the  institu- 
tipns  of  state,  of  religion,  of  learning  and  education,  established  by  the 
prudence  and  wisdom  of  our  fathers,  under  which  their  children  have  been 
prosperous  and  happy,  have  come  down  to  us  unimpaired  and  in  full 
vigor : 

"  That  the  various  classes  of  our  citizens,  under  the  mild  and  equal 


Chap.  XL] 


ABSENCE  OF  PAUi'KKI.SM. 


145 


govornment  of  laws  made  by  themselves,  pursue,  unmolested,  upon  the 
Jand  and  upon  the  sea,  their  peaceful  occupations : 

'  That  although  we  have  heard  the  distant  rumor,  and  seen  the  propar- 
ations  for  war  our  common  country  is  yet  at  peace  with  the  world.'' 

In  no  part  of  the  address  was  any  claim  set  up  to  the  peculiar 
lavor  ot  Cxod,  or  his  special  intervention  in  chastising  the  nation 
lor  particular  transgressions  ;  nothing  to  imply  that  He  does  not 
govern  the  world  by  fixed  and  general  laws,  moral  and  physical 
which  It  IS  our  duty  to  study  and  obey,  and  which,  if  we  disobey 
whether  from  ignorance  or  willfulness,  will  often  be  made  the 
mstruments  of  our  punishment  even  in  this  world.  The  procla- 
mation concluded  thus,  in  the  good  old  style  : 

"  Given  at  the  Council  Chamber,  in  Boston,  this  1st  day  of  October,  in  the 
year  of  our  Lord  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and  forty-five,  and  of  the 
Independence  of  the  United  States  the  seventieth. 

"  George  N.  Briggs. 
"'^^Coundr^"^"''^  ^^^  Governor,  with  the  advice  and  consent  of  the 

"  John  G.  Palfrey,  Secretary. 
"  God  save  the  Commonwealth  of  Massachusetts." 

The  almost  entire  absence  of  pauperism  even  in  the  large 
towns,  except  among  the  old  and  infirm,  forms  a  striking  point  of 
contrast  between  the  state  of  things  in  New  England  and  in 
Europe.     One  of  my  friends,  who  is  serving  on  a  committee  in 
Boston  to  see  that  the  poor  who  are  too  old  to  work  have  all 
necessary  comforts,  has  just  ordered,  as  one  of  the  indispensables 
a  carpet  for  the  bed-side  of  an  old  woman.     Yet,  within  five 
miles  of  Boston,  some  of  the  newly  arrived  emigrants  of  the  lower 
class  of  Irish,  may  now  be  seen  living  in  mud  huts  by  the  side 
of  railway  cuttings,  which  they  are  employed  to  dig,  who  are 
regarded  by  many  of  the  native-born  laborers  with  no  small  dis- 
gust, not  only  as  the  most  ignorant  and  superstitious  of  mortals 
but  as  likely,  by  their  competition,  to  bring  down  the  general 
standard  of  wages.      The  rich  capitalists,  on  the  other  hand, 
confess  to  me,  that  they  know  not  how  they  could  get  on  with 
the  construction  of  public  works,  and  obtain  good  interest  foi  their 
money,  were  they  deprived  of  this  constant  influx  of  foreign  labo 
VOL.  I  — G 


t 


■^:i-rx.  i».  .~i.-^^»  ■^  ■  ^'-i.i^ 


146 


IRISH  REPEAL  MEETING 


[Chap.  XI. 


lili 


They  speak  also  with  kiiiduess  of  the  Irish,  saying  they  are 
most  wiUing  to  work  hard,  keep  their  temperance  vows,  and,  in 
spite  of  the  considerable  sums  drawn  from  them  by  the  Catholic 
priests,  are  putting  by  largely  out  of  their  earnings  into  tho 
Savings  Banks.  It  is  also  agreed  that  they  arc  most  generous  to 
tiieir  poor  relations  in  Ireland,  remitting  money  to  them  annually, 
and  sometimes  enough  to  enable  them  to  pay  their  passage  across 
the  Atlantic.  At  the  same  time  they  confess,  with  much  con- 
cern, that  the  efforts  now  making  by  the  people  at  large,  aided 
by  the  wealthiest  class,  to  establish  a  good  system  of  state 
instruction,  and  to  raise  the  moral  and  intellectual  character  of 
the  millions,  must  be  retarded  by  the  intrusion  of  so  many  rude 
and  ignorant  settlers.  Among  other  mischiefs,  the  political 
passions  and  party  feelings  of  a  foreign  countr_  are  intruded  into 
the  political  arena,  and  a  tempting  field  laid  open  to  demagogues 
of  the  lowest  order. 

Returning  home  one  night  after  dark  from  a  party,  I  heard 
music  in  a  large  public  building,  and,  being  told  it  was  a  repeal 
meeting  held  by  the  Irish,  had  the  curiosity  to  look  in.  After  a 
piece  of  instrumental  music  had  been  performed,  an  orator,  with 
an  Irish  accent,  addressed  the  crowd  on  the  sufferings  of  the 
Irish  people  precisely  as  if  he  had  forgotten  on  which  side  of  the 
Atlantic  he  then  was.  Re  dwelt  on  the  tyranny  of  the  Saxons, 
and  spoke  of  repeal  as  the  only  means  of  emancipating  their 
country  from  British  domination,  and  solicited  money  in  aid  of 
the  great  cause.  Seeing,  with  no  small  surprise,  an  industrious 
native-born  artisan  of  Boston,  whom  I  knew,  iu  the  crowd,  I 
asked  him,  as  we  went  out  together,  whether  he  approved  of  the 
objects  of  the  meeting.  He  belonged  to  the  extreme  democratic 
party,  and  answered,  very  coolly  and  quite  seriously,  "  "We  hope 
that  we  may  one  day  be  able  to  do  for  Ireland  what  France  did 
for  the  United  States  in  our  great  struggle  for  independence.'* 

On  my  return  hon  %  I  found  that  my  pocket  had  been  picked 
of  a  purse  containing  fortunately  a  few  dollars  only,  an  accident 
for  which  I  got  no  commiseration  as  ray  friends  hopied  it  would 
be  a  lesson  to  me  to  keep  better  company  in  future. 

That  a  humble  mechanic  of  Boston  should  be  found  who 


Chap.  XL] 


VISIT  TO  A  FREE  SCHOOL. 


147 


indulged  in  wild  projects  for  redressing  the  wrongs  of  the  Iliber. 
man  race  ought  not  to  create  wonder,  when  I  state  that  before 
I  T^  f.n^  ^T  ^^^^'  ^  resolution  was  moved  in  Congress, 
by  Mr.  M.Connell,  one  of  the  members  for  Alabama,  after  he 
had  been  ta  kmg  much  about  the  spirit  of  Christian  love  and 
peaceful  brotherhood  which  distinguished  the  American  republic. 
to  he  following  sfTect :-« That  the  Irish,  ground  down  by 
i-ritish  misrule,  have  for  centuries  gr-aned  under  a  foreign 
monarchical  yoke,  and  are  ngw  entitled  to  share  the  blessings  of 
our  free  institutions."  I  am  happy  to  say,  however,  that  this 
absurd  motion  was  not  even  seconded. 

The  population  of  Boston,  exclusive  of  Charlestown,  Roxburv 
and  Cambridge  (which  may  be  regarded  as  suburbs),  is  at  present 
ab-ut  115,000,  of  which  8000  are  Roman  Catholics,  chiefly  of 
Irish  extraction  ;  but  there  are  besides  many  Scotch  and  English 
emigrants  in  the  city.      In  order  to  prove  to  mo  how  much  may 
be  done  to  advance  them  in  civilization  in  a  single  generation   I 
was  taken  to  a  school  where  nino-tenths  of  all  the  children  were 
ol  parents  who  had  come  oufc  from  En-land  or  Ireland.     It  was 
not  an  examination  day.  and  our  visit  was  wholly  unexpected 
We  entered  a  suite  of  three  well-aired  rooms,  containing  550 
girls.      There  were  nine  teachers  in  the  room.     The  pupils  were 
all  between  the  ages  of  nine  and  thirteen,  the  greater  portion  of 
them  the  daughters  of  poor  laborers,  but  some  of  them  of  parents 
m  good  circumstances.      Each  scholar  was  seated  on  a  separate 
chair  with  a  back  to  it,  the  chair  being  immovably  fixed  to  the 
ground  to  prevent  noise.      There  was  no  uniformity  of  costume 
but  evidently  much  attention  to  personal  neatness,  nearly  all  of 
them  more  dressed  than  would  be  thought  in  good  taste  iu  chil 
drm  01  a  corresponding  class  in  England.     They  had  be-^un  their 
Btuuies  at  nine  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  are  to  be  fix^hours  at 
schooi,  studying  fifty  minutes  at  a  time,  and  then  being  allowed 
ten  minutes  for  play  in  a  yard  adjoining.     I  observed  some  of  the 
girls  very  mtent  on  their  task,  leaning  on  their  elbows  and  in 
other  careless  attitudes,  and  we  were  told  by  the  masters  that 
they  avoid  as  much  as  possible  finding  fault  with  them  c  i  minor 
points  when  they  are  studying.     The  only  punishments  are  a 


ms£is;^~.-^ 


■»■ 


ti 


I4n 


STATK  EDUCATION. 


[Chap.  XI. 


reprimand  before  the  class,  and  keeping  them  back  after  school 
hours.  The  look  of  intelligence  in  the  countenances  of  the  greater 
number  of  them  was  a  most  pleasing  sight.  In  one  of  the  upper 
classes  they  were  reading,  when  wo  went  in,  a  passage  from  Paley 
"  On  Sleep,"  and  I  was  asked  to  select  at  random  from  the  school- 
books  some  poem  which  the  girls  might  read  each  in  their  turn. 
I  chose  Gray's  EIoQfy  in  a  Churchyard,  as  being  none  of  the 
simplest  for  young  'Tsous  to  understand.  They  each  read  a 
verse  distinctly,  and  uiany  of  them  most  gracefully,  and  explained 
correctly  the  meaning  of  nearly  all  the  words  and  allusions  on 
which  I  questioned  them. 

Wo  afterward  heard  the  girls  of  the  arithmetic  class  examined 
in  algebra,  and  their  answers  showed  that  much  pains  had  been 
taken  to  make  them  comprehend  the  principles  on  which  the 
methods  of  calculation  depended.  We  then  visited  a  boy's  gram- 
mar school,  and  found  there  420  Protestant  and  100  Catholic 
boys  educated  together.  We  remarked  that  they  had  a  less  re- 
fined appearance  and  were  less  forward  in  their  education  than 
the  girls  whom  we  had  just  seen,  of  the  same  age,  and  taken 
from  the  same  class  in  society.  In  explanation  I  was  told  that 
it  is  impossible  to  give  the  boys  as  much  schoohng,  because  they 
can  earn  money  for  their  parents  at  an  earlier  age. 

The  number  of  public  or  free  schools  in  Massachusetts  in 
1845-6,  for  a  population  of  800,000  souls,  was  about  3500, 
and  the  number  of  male  teachers  2585,  and  of  female  5000, 
which  would  allow  a  teacher  for  each  twenty-five  or  thirty  chil- 
dren, as  many  as  they  can  well  attend  to.  The  sum  raised  by 
direct  taxation  for  the  wages  and  board  of  the  tutors,  and  for 
fuel  for  the  schools,  is  upward  of  600,000  dollars,  or  120,000 
guineas  ;  but  this  is  exclusive  of  all  expenditure  for  school-houses, 
libraries,  and  apparatus,  for  which  other  funds  are  appropriated, 
and  every  year  a  great  number  of  newer  and  finer  buildings  are 
erected. 

Upon  the  whole  about  one  million  of  dollars  is  spent  in  teach- 
ing a  population  of  800,000  souls,  independently  of  the  sums 
expended  on  private  instruction,  which  in  the  city  of  Boston  is 
supposed  to  be  equal  to  the  money  levied  by  taxes  for  the  frea 


Chap.  XI.] 


PAY  OF  TKACHERS. 


140 


schoog.  or  200,000  dollars  (55,000^.)-  ^^^o  were  to  enforce  a 
school-ratc  lu  Great  Britain,  bearing  the  same  proportion  to  our 
population  of  twenty-eight  millions,  the  tax  would  amount  annu- 
ally  to  more  than  seven  millions  sterling,  and  would  then  bo  far 
less  effective,  owing  to  the  higher  cost  of  living,  and  the  com- 
parative  average  standard  of  incomes  among  professional  and 
official  m'in. 

In  Boston  the  master  of  the  Latin  School,  where  boys  are  fitted 
for  college,  and  the  master  of  the  High  School,  where  they  are 
taught  French,  mathematics,  and  other  branches  preparatory  to 
a  mercantile  career,  receive  each  2400  dollars  (500/.),  the  gov- 
ernor  of  the  state  having  only  2500  dollars.      Their  assistants 
are  paid  from    1800  to  700   dollars   (370/.  to   150/.)      The 
masters  of  the  grammar  schools,  where  boys  and  girls  are  taurrht 
in  separate  school-houses  English  literature,  general  history,  Tnd 
algebra,  have  salaries  of  1500  dollars  (315/.),  their  male  assist- 
ants  600  (125/.),  and  their  female  300  (05/.).      The  mistresses 
of  schools,  where  children  from  four  to  seven  years  old  are  taught 
to  read,  receive  325  dollars  (70/.).     In  Salem,  Roxbury,  Lowell, 
and  other  large  towns,  where  living  is  more  moderate,  the  salaries 
are  about  one-third  less  ;  and  in  rural  districts,  where  the  schools 
are  not  kept  open  for  the  whole  year,  the  wages  of  the  teachers 
are  still  smaller. 

The  county  of  Worces'  or,  Massachusetts,  for  example,  has  a 
population  of  about  100,000,  and  the  number  of  schools  in  it  is 
about  543,  the  schools  being  kept  open  some  four,  others  twelve 
months,  and  on  an  average  six  months  in  the  year.  The  male 
teachers,  of  whom  there  are  about  500,  receive  30  dollars  (6/. 
6s.)  a  month;  the  women  teachers,  of  whom  there  are  700 
about  13  dollars  a  month  (2/.  15s.). 

Among  other  changes,  we  are  told,  in  the  State  Reports,  that 
the  number  of  female  teachers  has  been  augmented  more  rapidly 
than  that  of  the  males,  especially  in  schools  where  the  youngest 
pupils  are  taught,  because  the  services  of  women  cost  less,  and 
are  found  to  be  equally,  if  not  more,  efficient.  But  my  inform- 
ants m  general  were  desirous  that  I  should  understand  that  the 
success  of  their  plan  of  national  education  does  not  depend  so  much 


4 


fe  •1 


ffi'- 


M»ta 


150 


SOCIAL  POSITION  OF  TEACHERS. 


[Chap.  XI. 


11 


III 


on  the  number  and  pay  of  the  teachers  as  on  the  interest  taken 
in  it  by  the  entire  population,  who  faithfully  d  vote  more  time 
and  thought  to  the  management  of  the  schools  than  to  any  other 
public  duty. 

The  cost  of  lidng  in  New  England  may,  on  the  whole,  bo 
taken  to  be  at  bast  one-third  less  than  in  Great  Britain ;  and 
the  spirit  of  the  political  institutions,  the  frugal  manner  of  conduct- 
ing the  government,  the  habits  of  society,  and  a  greater  general 
equality  of  fortunes,  where  the  custom  of  primogeniture  does  not 
prevail,  causes  the  relative  value  of  incomes  such  as  those  above 
enumerated,  to  confer  a  more  respectable  social  position  than 
they  would  do  with  us.  I  was  assured  that  in  the  country 
towns  the  schoolmasters  associate  with  the  upper  class  of  citizens, 
holding  as  good  a  place  in  society  as  the  clergy  and  medical 
men,  but  not  ranking  so  high  as  the  lawyers. 

On  this  point,  however  (the  relative  position  of  the  teachers), 
I  found  great  differences  of  opinion  among  my  informants ;  but 
a  general  agreement  that  their  pay  and  social  rank  ought  to  be 
raised,  so  as  to  enable  the  state  to  command  the  services  of  men 
and  women  of  the  best  abilities  and  accomplishments. 

Channing  had,  for  many  years  before  his  death,  insisted  on 
the  want  of  institutions  to  teach  the  art  of  teaching.  There  are 
now  several  of  these  normal  schools  in  full  activity,  where  a  course 
of  three  years'  instruction  is  given.  As  yet,  however,  few  can 
SiiToYd.  to  attend  more  than  one  year  ;  but  even  this  short  training 
has  greatly  raised  the  general  standard  of  efficacy,  and  the  bene- 
ficial influence  has  extended  even  to  schoolmasters  who  have  not 
yet  availed  themselves  of  the  new  training.  The  people  have, 
in  fact,  responded  generously  to  the  eloquent  exhortations  of 
Channing,  not  to  economize,  for  the  sake  of  leaving  a  fortune  to 
the  rising  generation,  at  the  expense  of  starving  their  intellects 
and  impoverishing  their  hearts.  It  was  a  common  prejudice,  he 
said,  and  a  fatal  error  to  imagine  that  the  most  ordinary  abilities 
are  competent  to  the  office  of  teaching  the  >oung.  "  Their  voca- 
tion, on  the  contrary,  is  more  noble  even  than  that  of  the  states- 
man, and  demands  higher  powers,  great  judgment,  and  a  capacity 
of  coni'nrshsndir!"  * 


virtfwn 


1  action,  anu 


1  *i-» 


Chap.  XL] 


^  HIGH  OFFICE  OF  TEACHERS. 


151 


various  springs  and  motives  by  which  the  child  may  be  roused  to 
the  most  vigorous  use  of  all  its  faculties."* 

Nevertheless,  some  of  his  most  enthusiastic  admirers  confessed 
to  me  that  they  could  not  assent  to  his  doctrine,  that  "to  teach, 
whether  by  word  or  action,  is  the  highest  function  on  earth,'' 
unless  young  men  and  women,  between  the  ages  of  seventeen  and 
twenty-two,  are  the  pupik,  instead  of  children  between  four  and 
sixteen.  They  expressed  their  misgivings  and  fears  that  the 
business  of  the  schoolmaster,  who  is  to  teach  reading  and  writing 
and  the  elements  of  knowledge,  must  check  the  development  of 
the  mind,  if  not  tend  to  narrow  its  powers.  As  the  real  friends 
of  progress,  they  had  come  reluctantly  to  this  conclusion ;  but 
they  admitted  that  to  despond  at  present  would  be  premature. 
The  experiment  of  promoting  the  teacher  of  every  school  to 
that  rank  in  society  Which  the  importance  of  his  duties  entitles 
him  to  hold,  and  of  training  him  in  his  art,  has  never  yet  been 
tried. 

We  have  yet  to  learn  what  may  be  the  efiect  of  encouraging 
men  of  superior  energy  and  talent,  who  have  a  natural  taste  for 
the  calling,  to  fit  themselves  for  the  profession.  It  must  doubt- 
less entail,  like  every  other  liberal  calling,  such  as  the  legal,, 
medical,  clerical,  military,  or  mercantile,  a  certain  amount  of 
drudgery  and  routine  of  business ;  but,  like  all  these  depart- 
ments, it  may  afford  a  field  for  the  enlargement  of  the  mind,  if 
they  who  exercise  it  enjoy,  in  a  like  degree,  access  to  the  best 
society,  can  exchange  thoughts  with  the  most  cultivated  minds 
in  their  district,  and  have  leisure  allowed  them  for  self-culture, 
together  with  a  reasonable  hope,  if  they  distinguish  themselves] 
of  being  promoted  to  posts  of  honor  and  emolument,  not  in  other 
professions,  such  as  the  clerical,  but  in  their  own.  The  high 
schools  of  Boston,  supported  by  the  state,  are  now  so  well  man- 
aged, that  some  of  my  friends,  who  would  grudge  no  expense  to 
engage  for  their  sons  the  best  instructors,  send  their  boys  to  then, 
as  superior  to  any  of  the  private  establishments  supported  by  the 
rich  at  great  cost.  The  idea  has  been  recently  agitated  of  pro- 
viding  similar  free-schools  and  colleges  for  girls,  because  they 
*  Glasgow  Ed.,  vol  i.  p.  391. 


159 


EDUCATIONAL  MOVEMENT. 


f 


il 


t 


[Chap.  XI. 


could  more  easily  be  induced  to  stay  until  the  age  of  sixteen. 
Young  men,  it  is  said,  would  hate  nothing  so  much  as  to  find 
themselves  inferior  in  education  to  the  women  of  their  oAvn  age 
and  station. 

Of  late  years  the  improvement  of  the  schools  has  been  so 
rapid,  that  objects  which  were  though,  Utopian  even  when 
Channing  began  his  career,  have  been  realized ;  and  the  more 
sanguine  spirits,  among  whom  Mr.  Horace  Mann,  Secretary  of 
the  Pubhc  Board  of  Education,  stands  pre-eminent,  continue  to 
set  before  the  eyes  of  the  public  an  ideal  standard  so  much  more 
elevated,  as  to  make  all  that  has  hitherto  been  accomplished 
appear  as  nothing.  The  taxes  self-imposed  by  the  people  for 
educational  purposes  are  still  annually  on  the  increase,  and  the 
beneficial  effects  of  the  system  are  very  perceptible.  In  all  the 
large  towns  Lyceums  have  been  established,  where  courses  of 
lectures  are  given  every  winter,  and  the  qualifications  of  the 
teacher,';  who  deliver  them  are  much  higher  than  formerly.  Both 
the  intellectual  and  social  feelings  of  every  class  are  cultivated 
by  these  evening  meetings,  and  it  is  acknowledged  that  with  the 
increased  taste  for  reading,  cherished  by  such  instruction,  habits 
of  greater  temperance  and  order,  and  higher  ideas  of  comfort, 
have  steadily  kept  pace. 

Eight  years  ago  (1838)  Channing  observed  that  "millions^ 
wearied  by  their  day's  work,  have  been  chained  to  the  pages  of 
Walter  Scott,  and  have  owed  some  bright  evening  hours  and 
balmier  sleep  to  his  magical  creations ;"  and. he  pointed  out  how 
many  of  the  laboring  classes  took  delight  in  history  and  biogra- 
phy, descriptions  of  nature,  in  travels  and  in  poetry,  as  well  as 
graver  works.  In  his  Franklin  Lecture,  addressed,  in  1838,  to 
a  large  body  of  mechanics  and  men  earning  their  livelihood  "  by 
manual  labor,"  he  says,  "  Books  are  the  true  levelers,  giving  to 
all  who  will  faithfully  use  them  the  society  and  spiritual  pres- 
ence of  the  best  and  greatest  of  our  race  ;  so  that  an  individual 
may  be  excluded  from  what  is  called  good  society,  and  yet  not 
pine  for  want  of  intellectual  companionship."* 

When  I  asked  how  it  happened  that  in  so  populous  and  rich 
*  Channing,  vol^  ii.  p.  378. 


Chap.  XL] 


rOPULAR  LECTURES. 


152 


a  city  as  Boston  there  was  at  present  (October,  1845)  no  regular 
theater,  I  was  told  among  other  reasons,  that  if  I  went  into  the 
houses  of  persons  of  the  middle  and  even  humblest  dass,  I  should 
often  find  the  father  of  a  family,  instead  of  seeking  excitement  in 
a  shilling  gallery  readmg  to  his  wife  and  four  or  five  children 
one  of  the  best  modern  novels,  which  he  has  purchased  for  twenty- 
five  cents;  whereas,  if  they  could  all  have  left  home,  he  could 
not  lor  many  times  that  sum  have  taken  them  to  the  play  Thev 
often  buy,  in  two  or  three  successive  numbers  of  a  penny  news- 
paper, entire  reprints  of  the  tales  of  Dickens.  Bulwer,  or  other 
popular  writers. 

Dana,  now  a  lawyer  in  Boston,  and  whose  acquaintance  I 
had  the  pleasure  of  making  there,  has,  in  his  singularly  interest- 
ing and  original  work,  entitled  -  Two  Years  before  the  Mast " 
not  only  disclosed  to  us  a  lively  picture  of  life  in  the  forecastle, 
but  has  shoM;n  incidentally  how  much  a  crew,  composed  of  the 
most  unpromising  materials,  rough  and  illiterate,  and  recruited 
at  random  from  the  merchant  service  of  different  nations,  could 
be  improved  by  associating  with  a  single  well-educated  messmate 
He  was  able,  on  one  of  the  few  holidays  which  were  granted  to 
them  m  Cahforma  by  the  most  tyrannical  of  captains,  to  keep 
them  Irom  going  ashore,  where  they  would  have  indulged  in  dis- 
wpation,  by  reading  to  them  for  hours  Scott's  historical  tale  of 
'« Woodstock."     We  ought  scarcely,  then,  to  wonder,  after  what 
1  have  said  of  the  common  schools  of  this  city,  that  crowded 
audiences  should  be  drawn  night  after  night,  through  the  whole 
winter,  m  spite  of  frost  and  snow,  from  the  class  of  laborers  and 
mechanics,  mingled  with  those  of  higher  station,  to  listen  with 
deep  interest  to  lectures  on  natural  theology,  zoology,  geology 
the  writings  of  Shakspeare,  the  beauties  of  -  Paradise  Lost '' 
the  pecuhar  excellencies  of  "  Comus"  and  "Lycidas,"  treated  in 
an  elevated  style  by  men  who  would  be  heard  with  pleasure  by 
the  most  refined  audiences  in  London. 

Still,  however,  I  hear  many  complaints  that  there  is  a  want 
ot  public  amusements  to  give  relief  to  the  minds  of  the  multitude 
whose  daily  employments  are  so  monotonous  that  they  require' 
tar  more  than  the  rich,  opportunitios  of  innoceut  recreation,  such 


154 


LENDING  LIBEAEIES. 


[Chap.  XI 


as>  concerts,  dancing,  and  the  theater  might  give,  under  proper 
regulations ;  for  these  are  now  usually  discouraged  by  religion* 
ists,  who  can  find  no  other  substitute  for  them  but  sermons  and 
reiterated  church  services. 

Among  the  signs  of  the  times,  and  of  the  increasing  taste  for 
reading,  the  great  number  of  lending  libraries  in  every  district 
must  not  be  forgotten.  Toward  the  purchase  of  these  the  State 
grants  a  certain  sum,  if  an  equal  amoimt  be  subscribed  by  the 
inhabitants.  They  are  left  to  their  own  choice  in  the  purchase 
of  books ;  and  the  best  English  poets  and  novelists  are  almost 
always  to  be  met  with  in  each  collection,  and  works  of  biography, 
history,  travels,  natural  history,  and  science.  The  selection  is 
carefully  made  with  reference  to  what  the  people  will  read,  and 
not  what  men  of  higher  education  and  station  think  they  ought 
to  read. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

Boston,  Popular  Education,  continued. -Patronage  of  Universities  and 
Scienoe—Channing  on  Milton.-Milton's  Scheme  of  teaching  the  Nat- 
ural  Sciences—New  England  Free  Schools.  -  Their  Origin. -First 
Puritan  Settlers  not  illiterate—Sincerity  of  their  Religions  Faith.— 
Schools  founded  in  Seventeenth  Century  in  Massachusetts.— Discouraged 
m  Virginm._S.r  W.  Berkeley's  Letter— Pastor  Robinson's  Views  of 
Progress  in  Religion— Organization  of  Congregational  Churches— No 
PenaU.es  for  Dissent.— Provision  made  for  future  Variations  in  Creeds. 
—Mode  of  Working  exemplified—Impossibility  of  concealing  Truths 
relating  to  Religion  from  an  educated  Population.— Gain  to  the  Higher 
Classes,  especially  the  Clergy.— New  Theological  Colleges— The  Lower 
Orders  not  rendered  indolent,  discontented,  or  irreligious  by  Education. 
— i-ecuhar  Stimulus  to  Popular  Instruction  in  the  United  States. 

It  was  naturally  to  be  apprehended  that,  in  a  pure  democracy, 
or  where  the  suffrage  is  nearly  universal,  the  patronage  of  the 
state  would  be  almost  entirely  confined  to  providing  means  for 
mere  primary  education,  such  as  reading,  writing,  and  ciphering. 
But  such  IS  not  the  case  in  Massachusetts,  although  the  annual 
grants  made  to  the  three  universities  of  Harvard,  Amherst,  and 
Williams,  are  now  becoming  inadequate  to  the  growing  wants 
of  a  more  advanced   community,   and   strenuous   exertions   are 
making  to  enlarge  them.     In  the  mean  time,  private  bequests 
and  donations  have  of  late  years  poured  in  upon  Harvard  Uni- 
versity from  year  to  year,  some  of  them  on  a  truly  munificent 
scale.      Since  my  first  visit  to  Cambridge,  professorships  of  bot- 
any, comparative  anatomy,  and  chemistry  have  been  founded. 
There  was  previously  a  considerable  staff  for  the  teaching  of 
literature,  law,  and  medicine ;  and  lately  an  entire  new  depart- 
mefit   for   engineering,   natural   philosophy,    chemistry,   geology, 
mineralogy,  and  natural  history,  in  their  application  to  the  arts, 
has  been  instituted.      One  individual,  Mr.  Abbott  Lawrence,  a 
gentleman  still  in.  the  prime  of  life,  has  contributer'  no  less  a 
mm  than  100,000  dollars  '20,000  guineas)  toward  the  su^i^ort 


156 


PATRONAGE  OF  SCIENCE. 


[Chap.  XII 


of  this  department.  One  of  the  new  chairs  is  now  filled  by  a 
zoologist  of  the  highest  European  reputation,  Professor  Agassiz. 
A  splendid  bequest  also,  of  equal  amount  (100,000  dollars),  has 
recently  been  made  to  the  Cambridge  Observatory,  for  which  the 
country  had  already  obtained,  at  great  cost,  a  large  telescope, 
which  has  resolved  the  great  nebula  in  Orion,  and  has  enabled 
the  astronomer,  Mr.  Bond,  simultaneously  with  an  English  ob- 
server, Mr.  Lassell,  to  discover  a  new  satellite  of  Saturn. 

That  the  State,  however,  will  not  be  checked  by  any  narrow 
utilitarian  views  in  its  patronage  of  the  university  and  the  higher 
departments  of  literature  and  science,  we  may  confidently  infer 
from  the  grants  made  so  long  ago  as  March,  1830,  by  the  frugal 
Legislature  of  Massachusetts,  for  a  trigonometrical  survey,  and 
for  geological,  botanical,  and  zoological  explorations  of  the  coun- 
try, executed  by  men  whose  published  reports  prove  them  to  have 
been  worthy  of  the  trust.  It  was  to  be  expected  that  some  dem- 
agogues would  attempt  to  persuade  the  people  that  such  an  ex- 
penditure of  public  money  was  profligate  in  the  extreme,  and  that 
as  the  universities  have  a  dangerous  aristocratic  tendency,  so  these 
liberal  appropriations  of  funds  for  scientific  objects  were  an  evi- 
dence that  the  Whig  party  were  willing  to  indulge  the  fancies 
of  the  few  at  the  charge  of  the  many.  Accordingly,  one  orator 
harangued  the  fishermen  of  Cape  Cod  on  this  topic,  saying  that 
the  government  had  paid  1500  dollars  out  of  the  Treasury  to 
remunerate  Dr.  Storer — ^for  what  ?  for  giving  Latin  names  to 
some  of  the  best  known  fish ;  for  christening  the  common  cod 
Morrhua  americami,  the  shad  Alosa  vulgaris,  and  the  fall  her- 
ring Clupea  vulgaris.  His  electioneering  tactics  did  not  suc- 
ceed ;  but  might  they  not  have  gained  him  many  votes  in  certain 
English  constituencies?  Year  after  year,  subsequently  to  1837, 
the  columns  of  "  the  leading  journal"  of  Great  Britain  were  filled 
with  attacks  in  precisely  the  same  style  of  low  and  ignorant  ridi- 
cule against  the  British  Association,  and  the  memoirs  of  some  of 
the  ablest  writers  in  Europe  on  natural  history  and  science,  who 
were  assailed  with  vulgar  abuse.  Such  articles  would  not  have 
been  repeated  so  perseveringly,  nor  have  found  an  echo  in  the 
"  British  Critic"  and  several  magazines,  had  they  not  found  sym- 


Chap.  XII.] 


CHANNING  ON  MILTON. 


157 


pathy  in  the  minds  of  a  large  class  of  readers,  who  ought,  by  their 
station,  to  have  been  less  prejudiced,  and  who,  in  reality,  have 
no  bigoted  aversion  to  science  itself,  but  simply  dread  the  effects 
of  Its  dissemination  among  the  people  at  large. 

It  is  remarkable  that  a  wi-iter  of  such  genius  and  so  enlarged 
a  mind  as  Channing,  who  was  always  aiming  to  furnish  the  mul- 
titude with  sources  of  improvement  and  recreation,  should  have 
dwelt  so  little  on  the  important  part  which  natural  history  and 
the  physical  sciences  might  play,  if  once  the  tastes  of  the  million 
were  turned  to  their  study  and  cultivation.     From  several  passa- 
ges in  his  works,  it  is  evident  that  he  had  never  been  imbued 
with  the  slightest  knowledge  or  feeling  for  such  pursuits;    and 
this  is  apparent  even  in  his  splendid  essay  on  Milton,  one  of  the 
most  profound,  brilliant,  and  philosophical  dissertations  in  the 
English  language.     Dr.  Johnson,  while  he  had  paid  a  just  hom- 
age to  the  transcendent  genius  of  the  great  poet  and  the  charms  of 
his  verse,  had  allowed  his  party  feelings  and  bigotry  to  blind  him 
to  all  that  was  pure  and  exalted  in  Milton's  character.     Chan- 
ning, in  his  vindication,  pointed  out  how  Johnson,  with  all  his 
strength  of  thought  and  reverence  for  virtue  and  religion,  his  vig^ 
orous  logic,  and  practical  wisdom,  wanted  enthusiasm  and  lofty 
sentiment.     Hence,  his  passions  engaged  him  in  the  unworthy 
task  of  obscuring  the  brighter  glory  of  one  of  the  best  and  most 
virtuous  of  men.     But  the  American  champion  of  the  illustrious 
bard  fails  to  remark  that  Milton  was  also  two  centuries  in  ad- 
vance of  the  age  in  which  he  lived,  in  his  appreciation  of  the 
share  which  the  study  of  nature  ought  to  hold  in  the  training  of 
the  youthful  mind.     Of  Milton's  scheme  for  enlarging  the  ordi- 
nary system  of  teaching,  proposed  after  he  had  himself  been  prac- 
tically engaged  in  the  task  as  a  schoolmaster,  the  lexicographer 
spoke,  as  might  have  been  anticipated,  in  terms  of  disparagement 
bordering  on  contempt.     He  treated  Milton,  in  fact,  as  a  mere 
empiric  and  visionary  projector,  observing  that  "  it  was  his  pur- 
pose  to  teach  boys  something  more  solid  than  the  common  litera- 
ture of  schools,  by  reading  those  authors  that  treat  of  physical 
Bubjects."— <«  The  poet  Cowley  had  formed  a  similar  plan  in  his 
imaginary  college  ;  but  the  knowledge  of  external  nature,  and  tbi. 


158 


DR.  JOHNSON. 


[Chap.  XIL 


sciences  which  that  knowledge  requires,  are  not  the  great  or  the 
frequent  business  of  the  human  mind :  and  we  ought  not"  he 
adds,  "  to  turn  off  attention  from  life  to  nature,  aa°if  we  were 
placed  here  to  watch  the  growth  of  plants,  or  the  motions  of  the 
stars." 

That  a  violent  shock  had  been  given  in  the  sixteenth  century 
to  certain  time-honored  dogmas,  by  what  is  here  slightingly  called 
"  watching  the  motions  of  the  stars,"  was  an  historical  fact  with 
which  Johnson  was  of  course  familiar  ;  but  if  it  had  been  adduced 
to  prove  that  they  who  exercise  their  reasoning  powers,  in  inter- 
preting the  great  book  of  nature,  are  constantly. arriving  at  new 
truths,  and  occasionally  required  to  modify  preconceived  opinions, 
or  that  when  habitually  engaged  in  such  discipline,  they  often  ac- 
quire mdependent  habits  of  thought,  applicable  to  othur  depart- 
ments of  human  learning,  such  arguments  would  by  no  means 
have  propitiated  the  critic,  or  have  induced  him  to  moderate  his 
disapprobation  of  the  proposed  innovations.     In  the  mind  of  John- 
son there  was  a  leaning  to  superstition,  and  no  one  was  more  con- 
tent to  leave  the  pupil  to  tread  forever  in  beaten  paths,  and  to 
cherish  extreme  reverence  for  authority,  for  which  end  the  whole 
system  then  in  vogue  in  the  English  schools  and  colleges  was  ad- 
mirably conceived.      For  it  confined  the  studies  of  young  men,  up 
to  the  age  of  twenty-two,  as  far  as  possible  to  the  non-progressive 
departments  of  knowledge,  to  the  ancient  models  of  classical  ex- 
cellence, whether  in  poetry  or  prose,  to  theological  treatises,  to 
the  history  and  philosophy  cf  the  ancients  rather  than  the  mod- 
erns, and  to  pure  mathematics  rather  than  their  application  to 
physics.      No  modern  writer  was  more  free  from  fear  of  inquiry, 
more  anxious  to  teach  the  millions  to  think  and  reason  for  them- 
selves, no  one  ever  looked  forward  more  enthusiastically  to  the 
future  growth  and  development  of  the  human  mind,  than  Chan- 
ning.     If  his  own  education  had  not  been  cast  in  an  antique 
mold,  he  would  have  held  up  Milton  as  a  model  for  imitation, 
not  only  for  his  love  of  classical  lore  and  poetry,  but  for  his  wish 
to  cultivate  a  knowledge  of  the  works  of  nature. 

Certainly  no  people  ever  started  with  brighter  prospects  of 
initing  the  promotion  of  both  these  departments,  than  the  people 


Chap.  XII.] 


ORIGIN  OF  FREE  SCHOOLS. 


159 


of  New  England  at  this  moment.     Of  the  free  schools  which 
they  have  founded,  and  the  plan  of  education  adopted  by  them 
for  children  of  all  sects  and  stations  in  society,  they  feel  justly 
proud,  for  it  is  the  most  original  thing  which  America  has  yet 
produced.     The  causes  of  their  extraordinary  success  and  recent 
progress,  well  deserve  more  attention  than  they  have  usually 
received  from  foreigners,  especially  as  it  seems  singular  at  first 
sight,  and  almost  paradoxical,  that  a  commonwealth  founded  by 
the  Puritans,  whom  we  are  accustomed  to  regard  as  the  enemies 
of  polite  literature  and  science,  should  now  take  so  prominent  a 
lead  as  the  patrons  of  both ;  or  that  a  sect  which  was  so  prone 
to  bibliolatry  that  they  took  their  pattern  and  model  of  civil 
government,  and  even  their  judicial  code,  from  the  Old  Testament, 
who  carried  their  theory  of  the  union  of  Church  and  State  so  far 
as  to  refuse  the  civil  franchise  to  all  who  were  not  in  full  com- 
munion with  their  Church,  and  who  persecuted  for  a  time  some 
non-conformists,  even  to  the  death,  should  nevertheless  have  set 
an  example  to  the  world  of  religious  toleration,  and  havr   been 
the  first  to  establish  schools  for  popular  education  open  to  the 
children  of  all  denominations — Romanist,  Protestant,  and  Jew. 
If  any  one  entertains  a  doubt  that  the  peculiar  character 
stamped  upon  the  present  generation  of  New  Englanders,  in 
relation  to  religious  and  political  affairs,  is  derived  directly  and 
indisputably  from  their  Puritan  ancestors,  let  them  refer  to  the 
history  of  Massachusetts.     According  to  the  calculation  of  Ban- 
croft, the  first  Puritan  settlers  of  New  England  are  the  parents 
of  one-third  of  the  whole  white  population  of  the  United  States. 
Within  the  first  fifteen  years  (and  there  never  was  afterward  any 
considerable   increase  from  England)  there  came  over  21,200 
persons,  or  4000  families.     Their  descendants,  he  says,  are  now 
(1840)  not  far  from  4,000,000.     Each  family  has  multiplied 
on  the  average  to  1000  souls,  and  they  have  carried  to  New 
York  and  Ohio,  where  they  constitute  half  the  population,  the 
Puritan  system  of  free  schools,  which  they  established  from  the 
beginning.    When  we  recollect  that  the  population  of  all  England 
is  computed  to  have  scarcely  exceeded  five  millions  when  the 
chief  body  of  the  Puritans  first  emigrated  to  the  New  World,  we 


160 


FIRST  PURITAN  SETILERS. 


I 


il 


[Chap.  XII 


may  look  upon  the  present  descendants  of  the  first  colonists  ns 
constituting  a  nation  hardly  inferior  in  numbers  to  what  England 
itself  was  only^two  centuries  before  our  times.  The  development, 
therefore,  of  the  present  inhabitants  from  a  small  original  stock 
has  been  so  rapid,  and  the  intermediate  generations  ro  few,  that 
we  must  be  quite  prepared  to  discover  in  the  founders  of  the  colony 
of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  germ  of  all  the  wonderful  results 
which  have  since  so  rapidly  unfolded  themselves.  • 

Nor  is  this  difficult.  In  the  first  place,  before  the  great  civil 
war  broke  out  in  England,  when  the  principal  emigration  took 
place  to  Massachusetts,  the  Puritans  were  by  no  means  an  illit- 
erate or  uncultivated  sect.  They  reckoned  in  their  ranks  a 
considerable  number  -f  men  of  good  station  and  family,  who  had 
received  the  best  education  which  the  schools  and  universitiec 
then  afforded.  Some  of  the  most  influential  of  the  early  New 
England  divines,  such  as  Cotton  Mather,  were  good  scholars,  and 
have  left  writings  which  display  much  reading  and  an  a^^quaint- 
ance  with  the  Greek  and  Latin  languages.  Milton'g  '« .Paradise 
Lost"  usually  accompanied  the  Bible  into  the  log-houses  of  the 
early  settlers,  and  with  the  «'  Paradise  Lost"  the  minor  poems 
of  the  same  author  were  commonly  associated. 

The  Puritans  who  first  went  into  exile,  after  endurin;^  much 
oppression  in  their  native  country,  were  men  who  were  ready  to 
bjave  the  wilderness  rather  than  profess  doctrines  or  conform  to 
a  ritual  which  they  abhorred.  They  were  a  pure  and  conscien 
tious  body.  They  might  bo  ignorant  or  fanatical,  but  they  were 
at  least  sincere,  and  no  hypocrites  had  as  yet  been  tempted  to 
join  them  for  the  sake  of  worldly  promotion,  as  happened  at  a 
later  period,  when  Puritanism  in  the  mother  country  had  become 
df^minan^  in  the  state.  Full  of  faith,  and  believing  that  their 
religious  tenets  must  be  strengthened  by  free  investigation.,  they 
held  that  the  study  and  interpretation .  of  the  Scriptures  should 
not  be  the  monopoly  of  a  particular  order  of  men,  but  that  every 
layman  was  bound  to  search  them  for  himself  Hence  tney  were 
anxious  to  have  all  their  children  taught  to  read.  So  early  as 
the  year  1647,  they  instituted  common  schools,  the  law  declaring 
"  that  all  the  brethren  shall  teach  their  children  and  apprentices 


Chap.  XII.] 


SCHOOLS  EARLY  FOUNDED. 


161 


to  read,  and  that  every  township  of  fifty  householders  shall  ap. 
point  one  to  teach  all  the  children."* 

Very  different  was  the  state  of  things  in  the  contemporary 
colony  of  Virginia,  to  which  the  Cavaliers  and  the  members  of 
the  I^stabLshed  Church  were  thronging.    Even  fifteen  or  tv/entv 
years  later  Srr  William  Berkeley,  who  was  governor  of  Virginia 
tor  nearly  forty  years,  and  was  one  of  the  best  of  the  colonial 
rulers,  spoke  thus,  in  the  full  sincerity  of  his  heart,  of  his  own 
province,  in  a  letter  written  after  the  restoration  of  Charles  II.  : 
—"I  thank  God  there  are  no  free  schools  or  printing,  and  I  hope 
we  shall  not  have  them  these  hundred  years.      For  learninrr  has 
brought  herosy  and  disobedience  and  sects  into  the  world"  and 
printing  has  divulged  them,  and  libels  against  the  best  govern- 
ment.    God  keep  us  from  both." t 

Sir  William  Berkeley  was  simply  expressing  here,  in  plain 
terms,  the  chief  motives  which  still  continue  to  defeat  or  retard 
the  cause  ot  popular  education  in  some  parts  of  the  United  States 
and  m  many  countries  of  Europe,   England  not  excepted— a 
dread  of  pohtical  change  while  the  people  remain  in  ignorance 
and  a  fear  of  removing  that  ignorance,  lest  it  should  bring  on 
changes  of  religious  opinion.      The  New  Endanders  were  from 
the  beginmng  so  republican  in  spirit,  that  they  were  not  likely  to 
share  Governor  Berkeley's  apprehensions  of  a  growing  dislike  to 
"the  best  of  governments,"  as  he  termed  the  political  maxims  of 
the  Stuarts ;  and  if,  for  a  time,  they  cherished  hopes  of  preserv- 
mg  uniformity  of  religious  opinion,  and  even  persecuted  some  who 
would  not  conform  to  their  views,  their  intolerance  was  of  short 
duration,  and  soon  gave  way  to  those  enlightened  views  of  civil 
and  religious  freedom  which  they  had  always  professed,  even 
when  they  failed  to  carry  them  into  practice. 

If  we  contrast  the  principles  before  alluded  to  of  the  leading 
men  m  Massachusetts  with  those  of  the  more  southern  settlers 
m  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  centurv,  we  learn  without 
surprise  that  at  a  time  when  there  was  not  one  bookseller's  shop 
in  Virginia  and  no  printing  presses,  there  were  several  in  Boston, 
*  Bancroft,  vol,  .  p.  458. 
t  Chalmers,  citsd  by  Graham,  Hist,  of  U.  S.,  vol  i.  p.  103. 


162 


PROGRESS  liN  RELIGION. 


[Chap.  XII. 


with  no  less  than  five  printing-offices,  a  fact  which  reflects  the 
more  credit  on  the  Puritans,  because  at  the  same  period  (1724) 
there  were  no  less  than  thirty-four  counties  in  the  mother  country, 
Lancashire  being  one  of  the  number,  in  which  there  was  no 
printer.* 

When  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  were  about  to  sail  in  the  May- 
flower  from  Leyden,  a  solemn  fast  was  held  before  they  embarked, 
and  their  pastor,  Robinson,  gave  them  a  farewell  address,  in 
which  these  memorable  words  are  recorded  : 

"  I  charge  you,  before  God  and  his  blessed  angels,  that  you 
follow  me  no  further  than  you  have  seen  me  follow  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ.  The  Lord  has  more  truth  yet  to  break  forth  out 
of  his  holy  word.  For  my  part,  I  can  not  suflSciently  bewail 
the  condition  of  the  reformed  churches,  who  are  come  to  a  period 
in  religion,  and  will  go  at  present  no  further  than  the  instruments 
of  their  first  reformation.  The  Lutherans  can  not  be  drawn  to 
go  beyond  what  Luther  saw.  Whatever  part  of  His  will  our 
good  God  has  imparted  and  revealed  unto  Calvin,  they  will  die 
rather  than  embrace  it.  And  the  Calvinists,  you  see,  stick  fast 
where  they  were  left  by  that  great  man  of  God,  who  yet  saw  not 
all  things.  This  is  a  misery  much  to  be  lamented  ;  for,  though 
they  were  burning  and  shining  lights  in  their  times,  yet  they 
penetrated  not  into  the  whole  counsel  of  God  :  but,  were  they 
now  living,  they  would  be  as  willing  to  embrace  further  light  as 
that  which  they  first  received.  I  beseech  you  to  remember  it ; 
it  is  an  article  of  your  church-covenant,  that  you  will  be  ready  to 
receive  whatever  truth  shall  be  made  known  unto  you  from  the 
written  word  of  God.  Remember  that  and  every  other  article 
of  your  most  sacred  covenant." 

It  may  be  said  that  the  spirit  of  progress,  the  belief  in  the 
future  discovery  of  new  truths,  and  the  expansion  of  Christianity, 
which  breathes  through  every  passage  of  this  memorable  dis- 
course, did  not  characterize  the  New  England  Independents  any 
more  than  the  members  of  other  sects.  Like  the  rest,  they  had 
embodied  their  interpretations  of  Scripture  in  certain  fixed  and 
definite  propositions,  and  were  but  little  disposed  to  cherish  the 

*  Macaulay,  History  of  England,  vol.  i.  p.  392,  who  cites  Nichols 


OIIAI'.  XII.| 


NO  PENALTIES  FOR  DISSENT. 


I8S 


dootrino  of  tlio  gradual  development  of  Christianity.  The  Roman. 
isti  had  stopped  short  at  the  council  of  Trent,  when  the  decrees 
of  a  general  council  were  canonized  by  the  sanction  of  an  infal- 
lible Popo.  In  like  manner,  almost  every  Protestant  church  has 
acted  as  if  religion  ceased  to  be  progressive  at  the  precise  moment 
of  time  when  their  own  articles  of  belief  were  drawn  up,  after 
much  dispute  and  difference  of  opinion. 

But  the  precepts  inculcated  by  Pastor  Robinson  were  delivered 
to  a  body  of  men  whose  form  of  ecclesiastical  polity  was  very 
peculiar  ;  who  held  that  each  congregation,  each  separate  society 
of  fellow-worshipers,  constituted  within  themselves  a  perfect  and 
independent  church,  whose  duty  it  was  to  compose  for  itself  and 
modify  at  pleasure  its  rules  of  scriptural  interpretation.  In  con- 
formity with  these  ideas,  the  common  law  of  New  England  had 
ruled,  that  the  majority  of  the  pew-holders  in  each  church  should 
retain  their  property  in  a  meeting-house,  and  any  endowment 
belonging  to  it,  whatever  new  opinions  they  might,  in  the  course 
of  time,  choose  to  adopt.  In  other  words,  if,  in  the  lapse  of  ages, 
they  should  deviate  from  the  original  standard  of  faith,  they 
should  not  suffer  the  usual  penalties  of  dissent,  by  being  dispos- 
sessed of  the  edifice  in  which  they  were  accustomed  to  worship, 
or  of  any  endowments  given  or  bequeathed  for  a  school-house  or 
the  support  of  a  pastor,  but  should  continue  to  hold  them ;  the 
minority  who  still  held  fast  to  the  original  tenets  of  the  sect, 
having  to  seek  a  new  place  of  worship,  but  being  allowed  to 
dispose  of  their  pews,  as  of  every  other  freehold,  if  purchasers 
could  be  found. 

Every  year  in  some  parts  of  New  England,  where  the  popu- 
lation is  on  the  increase,  the  manner  in  which  some  one  of  these 
new  congregations  starts  into  existence  may  be  seen.  A  few 
individuals,  twenty  perhaps,  are  in  the  habit  of  meeting  together 
on  the  Sabbath  in  a  private  dwelling,  or  in  the  school-house 
already  built  for  the  children  of  all  denominations  in  the  new 
village.  One  of  the  number  offers  a  prayer,  another  reads  a 
chapter  in  the  Bible,  another  a  printed  sermon,  and  perhaps  a 
fourth  offers  remarks,  by  way  of  exhortation,  to  his  neighbors. 
As  the  population  increases,  they  begin  to  think  of  forming  them 


164 


CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES. 


[Chap.  XII. 


selves  into  a  church,  and  setthng  a  minister.  But  first  they 
have  to  agree  upon  some  creed  or  covenant  which  is  to  be  the 
basis  of  their  union.  In  drawing  up  this  creed  they  are  usually 
assisted  by  some  neighboring  minister,  and  it  is  then  submitted 
for  approbation  to  a  meeting  of  all  the  church  members,  and 
18  tlwroughly  discussed  and  altered  till  it  suits  the  peculiar  and 
prevaihng  shades  of  opinion  of  the  assembly.  When  at  len«rth 
It  18  assented  to,  it  is  submitted  to  a  council  of  neighborrno- 
mmisters,  who  examine  into  its  scriptural  basis,  and  who,  accord°- 
mg  as  they  approve  or  disapprove  of  it,  give  or  withhold  « the 
hand  of  fellowship." 

The  next  step  is  to  elect  a  pastor.  After  hearing  several 
candidates  preach,  they  invite  one  to  remain  with  them ;  and 
alter  he  has  been  ordained  by  the  neighboring  ministers,  agree 
on  the  salary  to  be  insured  to  him,  for  the  collection  of  which 
certain  members  become  responsible.  It  rarely  exceeds  700 
dollars,  and  more  usually  amounts  in  rural  districts  to  500  del- 
lars,  or  100  guineas  annually. 

By  the  Congregationalists,  a  church  is  defined  to  be  a  com- 
pany of  pious  persons,  who  voluntarily  unite  together  for  the 
worship  of  God.      Each  company  being  self-created,  is  entirely 
mdependent  of  every  other,  has  the  power  to  elect  its  own  offi- 
cers and  to  admit  or  exclude  members.    Each  professes  to  regard 
creeds  and  confessions  of  faith  simply  as  convenient  guides  in  the 
examination  of  candidates,  not  standards  of  religious  truth     They 
may  be  the  opinions  of  good  and  wise  men,  venerable  by  their 
antiquity,  but  of  no  binding  authority,  and  are  to  be  measured 
in  each  separate  church  by  their  conformity  with  Scripture     As 
to  the  union  of  different  churches,  it  is  purely  voluntary,  and  has 
been  compared  to  a  congress  of  sovereign  states,  having  certain 
general  interests  in  common,  but  entirely  independent  of  each 
other.      There  are  no  articles  of  union;   but  if  any  old  or  new 
society  is  thought  to  depart  so  widely  from  the  other  churches 
that  they  can  no  longer  be  recognized  as  Christians,  the  rest 
withhold  or  withdraw  their  fellowship. 

•    ^T"  *5\7^°^°'  the  separate  congregational  churches,  both 
m  Old  and  New  England,  in  all  above  3000  in  number,  have 


Chap.  XIL] 


CONGREGATIONAL  CHURCHES. 


165 


held  together  more  firmly  for  two  centuries,  and  have  deviated 
far  less  from  the  original  standard  of  faith,  than  might  have 
been  expected ;  although  in  Massachusetts  and  some  neighboring 
States,  more  than  a  hundred  meeting-houses,  some  of  them  hav- 
ing endowments  belonging  to  them,  have  in  the  course  of  the 
last  forty  years  been  quietly  transferred,  by  the  majority  of  the 
pew-holders,  to  what  may  be  said  to  constitute  new  denomina- 
tions. The  change  usually  takes  place  when  a  new  minister  ia 
inducted.  This  system  of  ecclesiastical  polity  is  peculiarly  re- 
pugnant to  the  ideas  entertained  by  churchmen  in  general,  whose 
efforts  are  almost  invariably  directed,  whether  in  Protestant  or 
Romanist  communities,  to  inculcate  a  deep  sense  of  the  guilt  of 
schism,  and  to  visit  that  guilt  as  far  as  possible  with  pecuniary 
penalties  and  spiritual  outlawry.  The  originni  contract  is  usually 
based  on  a  tacit  assumption  that  religion  is  not,  like  other  branch- 
es of  knowledge,  progressive  in  its  nature ;  and,  therefore,  instead 
of  leaving  the  mind  unfettered  and  free  to  embrace  and  profess 
new  interpretations,  as  would  be  thought  desirable  where  the 
works  of  God  are  the  subjects  of  investigation,  every  precaution  is 
taken  to  prevent  doubt,  fluctuation,  and  change.  It  is  even 
deemed  justifiable  to  exact  early  vows  and  pledges  against  the 
teaching  of  any  new  doctrines ;  and  if  the  zealous  inquirer  should, 
in  the  course  of  years  and  much  reading,  catch  glimpses  of  truths 
not  embodied  in  his  creed,  nay,  the  very  grounds  of  which  could 
not  be  known  to  him  when  he  entered  the  church,  nor  to  the 
original  framers  of  his  articles  of  religion,  no  provision  is  made 
for  enabling  him  to  break  silence,  or  openly  to  declare  that  he 
has  modified  his  views.  On  the  contrary,  such  a  step  must 
usually  be  attended  with  disgrace,  and  often  with  destitution. 

Nor  does  the  intensity  of  this  feeling  seem  by  any  means  to 
diminish  in  modern  times  with  the  multiplication  of  new  sects. 
It  is  even  exhibited  as  strongly  in  bodies  which  dissent  from  old 
establishments  as  in  those  establishments  themselves.  Wesley, 
for  example,  took  the  utmost  care  that  every  Methodist  chapel 
should  be  so  vested  in  the  "  General  Conference,"  as  to  insure 
the  forfeiture  of  the  building  to  the  trustees,  if  any  particular 
congregation  should  deviate  from  his  standard  of  faith,  or  even 


166 


FUTURE  VARIATIONS  IN  CREEDS.  [Chap.  XII 


i'i' 


should  return  to  the  Church  of  England,  whose  doctrines  they 
had  never  renounced.     But  the  most  signal  instance  of  a  fixed 
determination  to  prevent  any  one  congregation  from  changin^r  its 
mind  m  regard  to  any  dogma  or  rite,  until  all  the  others  associat- 
ed with  It  are  ready  to  move  on  in  the  same  direction,  has  been 
exemplified  in  our  times  by  the  Free  Kirk  of  Scotland.     More 
than  a  million  of  the  population  suddenly  deserted  the  old  estab 
lishment,  and  were  compelled  to  abandon  hundreds  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal bmldmgs,  m  which  they  had  worshiped  from  their  childhood 
borne  of  these  edifices  remained  useless  for  a  time,  locked  up 
.    and  no  service  performed  in  them,  because   the  minister   and 
nearly  all  the  parishioners  had  joined  in  the  secession.      It  was 
necessary  for  the  separatists  to  erect  700  or  800  new  edifices 
nnd  school-house*,    on   which   they   expended    several    hundred 
t  lousand  pounds,  having  often  no  small  difficulty  to  obtain  new 
sites  for  churches,  so  that  their  ministers  preached  for  a  time 
like  the  Covenanters  of  old,  in  the  open  air.     It  was  under  thes.' 
circunistances,  and  at  the  moment  of  submitting  to  such  sacrifices 
that  their  new  ecclesiastical  organization  was  completed,  provid 
ing  that  It  any  one  of  several  hundred  congregations  shouJd  here 
alter  deviate,  in  ever  so  slight  a  degree,  from  any  one  of  th( 
numerous  articles  of  faith  drawn  up  nearly  three  centuries  affo 
under  the  sanction  of  John  Knox,  or  from  any  one  of  the  rules  and 
lorms  of  church  government  then  enacted,  they  should  be  dispos- 
sessed of  the  newly  erected  building,  and  all  funds  thereuntc. 
belonging.      Had  any  other  contract  been  proposed,  implying  thr 
possibihty  of  any  future  change  or  improvement  in  doctrine  or 
ceremony,  not  a  farthing  would  have  been  contributed  by  these 
zealous  Presbyterians ;  nor  have  they  acted  inconsistently,  inas- 
much as  they  are  fully  persuaded  that  they  neither  participate  in 
an  onward  or  backward  movement,  but  are  simply  reverting  to 
that  pure  and  perfect  standard  of  orthodoxy  of  the  middle  of  the 
sixteenth  century,  from  which  others  have  so  sinfullv  departed 

It  IS  only  in  times  comparatively  modern,  that  the  opinion  has 
gain<;d  ground  in  Europe,  and  very  recently  in  Scotland,  that  in 
the  settlement  of  landed  property  there  should  be  some  limitation 
of  the  power  of  the  dead  over  the  living,  and  that  a  testator  can 


Chap.  XII.J         FUTURE  VARIATIONS  IN  CREEDS. 


167 


not  be  gifted  with  such  foresight  as  to  enable   him   to   know 
beforehand  in  what  manner,  and  subject  to  what  conditions,  his 
wealth  may  be  best  distributed  among  his  descendants,  several 
generations  hence,. for  their  own  benefit  or  that  of  the  community 
at  large.      Whether,  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  also,  there  should 
not  be  some  means  provided  of  breaking  the  entail  without  resort- 
ing to  what  is  termed  in  Scotland  "  a  disruption,"  so  that  devia- 
tions from  theological  formularies  many  centuries  old,  should  not 
be  visited  with  pecuniary  losses  or  disgrace — whether  it  be  ex- 
pedient to  allow  the  Romanist  or  Calvinist,  the  Swedenborgian 
or  Socinian,  and  every  other  sectary  to  enforce,  by  the  whole 
power  of  the  wealth  he  may  bequeath  to  posterity,  the  teaching 
of  his  own  favorite  dogmas  for  an  indefinite  time,  and  when  a 
large  part  of  the  population  on  whom  he  originally  bestowed  his 
riches. have  altered  their  minds,  are  points  on  which  a  gradual 
change  has  been  taking  place  in  the  opinions  of  not  a  few  of  the 
higher  classes  at  least.     Of  this  no  one  will  doubt  who  remem- 
bers or  will  refer  to  the  debates  in  both  Houses  of  the  British 
Parhament  in  1844,*  and  the  speeches  of  eminent  statesmen  of 
opposite  politics  when  the  Dissenters'  Chapel  Bill  was  discussed. 
But  whatever  variety  of  views  there  may  still  be  on  this  sub- 
ject in  Europe,  it  is  now  the  settled  opinion  of  many  of  the  most 
thoughtful  of  the  New  Englanders,  that  the   assertion  of  the 
independence  of  each  separate  congregation,  was  as  great  a  step 
toward  freedom  of  conscience  as  all  that  had  been  previously 
gained  by  Luther's  Reformation  ;  and  it  constitutes  one  of  those 
characteristics  of  church  government  in  New  England,  which, 
whether  approved  of  or  not,  can  not  with  propriety  be  lost  sight 
of,  when  we  endeavor  to  trace  out  the  sources  of  the  love  of  pro- 
gress, which  has  taken  so  strong  a  hold  of  the  public  mind  in  New 
England,  and  which  has  so  much  facilitated  their  plan  of  national 
education.      To  show  how  widely  the  spirit  of  their  peculiar 
ecclesiastical   system   has   spread,    I   may   state   that   even  the 
Roman  Catholics  have,  in  different  states,  and  in  three  or  foui 
cases  (one  of  which  is  still  pending,  in  1848-9),  made  an  appeal 
to  the  courts  of  law,  and  endeavored  to  avail  themselves  of  thf 
*  Seo  tho  Debates  on  7  &  8  Vict.,  ch.  xlv.  a  d.  1844. 


168 


CONGREGATIONAL  POLITY. 


[Chap.  XIL 


principle  of  the  Independents,  so  that  the  majority  of  a  separate 
congregation  should  be  entitled  to  resist  the  appointment  by  their 
bishop  of  a  priest  to  whom  they  had  strong  objections.  The 
courts  seem  hitherto  to  have  determined  that,  as  the  building 
belonged  to  the  majority  of  the  pew-holders,  they  might  deal 
with  it  as  they  pleased;  but  they  have  declined  to  pronounce 
any  opinion  on  points  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  leaving  the 
members  of  each  sect  free,  in  this  respect,  to  obey  the  dictates 
of  their  own  conscience. 

But  to  exemplify  the  more  regular  working  of  the  congrega- 
tional polity  within  its  own  legitimate  sphere,  I  will  mention  a 
recent  case  which  came  more  home  to  my  own  scientific  pursuits. 
A  young  man  of  superior  talent,  with  wnom  I  was  acquainted, 
who  was  employed  as  a  geologist  in  the  state  survey  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, was  desirous  of  becoming  a  minister  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  that  state  ;  but,  when  examined,  previous  to  ordina- 
tion, he  was  unable  to   give  satisfactory  answers  to  questions 
respecting  tLe  plenary  inspiration  of  Scripture,  because  he  con- 
sidered such  a  tenet,  when  applied  to  the  first  book  of  Gene- 
sis,  inconsistent  with  discoveries  now  universally  admitted,  re- 
specting the  high  antiquity  of  the  earth,  and  the  existence  of 
living  beings  on  the  globe  long  anterior  to  man.      The  rejected 
candidate,  whose  orthodoxy  on  all  other  points  was  fully  admitted, 
was  then  invited  by  an  Independent  congregation  in  New  En- 
gland, to  become  their  pastor ;  and  when  he  accepted  the  ofier, 
the  other  associated  churches  were  called  upon  to  decide  whether 
they  would  assist  in  ordaining  one  who  claimed  the  right  to  teach 
freely  his  own  views  on  xhe  question  at  issue.      The  right  of  the 
congregation  to  elect  him,  whether  the  other  churches  approved 
of  the  doctrine  or  not,  was  conceded  ;  and  a  strong  inclination  is 
a.nvays  evinced,  by  the  afliliated  societies,  to  con.e,  if  possible,  to 
an  amicable  understanding.     Accordingly,  a  discussion  ensued, 
and  is  perhaps  still  going  on,  whether,  cc  isistently  with  a  fair 
interpretation  of  Scripture,  or  with  what  is  essential  to  the  faith 
of  a  Christian,  the  doctrine  of  complete  and  immediate  inspiration 
may  or  may  not  be  left  as  an  open  question. 

Some  of  my  readers  may  perhaps  exclaim  that  this  incident 


Chap.  XII.]     CHURCHMEN  ON  PHYSICAL  SCIENCE. 


169 


proves  that  the  Congregationalists  of  New  England  are  far  behind 
many  orthodox  dmnes  of  the  Church  of  England,  or  even    he 

hberahty  of  their  opinions  on  this  head,  and  that  the  establish! 
ment  of  the  true  theory  of  astronomy  satisfied  the  Protestant 
world,  at  east,  that  the  Bible  was  never  intended  as  a  revekln 
of  physical  science.  No  doubt  it  is  most  true,  that  within  the 
last  forty  years  niany  distinguished  writers  and  dignitaries  of  the 
Enghsh  Church  have  expressed  their  belief  very  openly  in  regard 
to  he  earth  s  antiquity,  and  the  leading  truths  established  by 
geology.  .The  Records  of  Creation,"  pubhshed  in  1 8 1 8,  by  the 
present  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  (Dr.  Sumner),  the  wri  ings  o^ 
the  presen  Dean  of  Westminster  (Dr.  Buckland).  those  of  the 
Dean  of  Llandaff  (Dr.  Conybeare).  and  of  the  Woodwardian  Pro!  ' 

0-,  f^    .1    '^  confirmation.     AH  of  these,  indeed,  have  b^en 
cited  by  the  first  teachers  of  geology  in  America,  especially  in  the 
..orthodox  umversities''  of  New  England,  as  ciunLanci^  th 
adoption  of  their  new  theories  ;  and  I  have  often  heard  sciLific 
men  in  America  express  their  gratitude  to  the  Enghsh  Church- 
men  lor  the  protection  which  their  high  authority  afforded  them 
against  popular  prejudices  at  a  critical  moment,  when  many  of 
the  State  Legislatures  were  deliberating  whether  they  should  cr 
should  not  appropriate  large  sums  of  the  public  money  to  the  pro- 
motion  of  geological  surveys.      The  point,  however,  under  dis- 
cussion  in  the  Congregationalist  Church,  to  which  I  have  alluded 
IS  in  reality  a  different  one,  and  of  the  utmost  importance  :  for  it 
IS  no  less  than  to  determine,  not  whether  a  minister  may  pubhsh 
books  or  essays  declaratory  of  his  own  individual  views,  respect- 
ing  the  bearmg  of  physical  science  on  certain  portions  of  Scrip- 
ture, but  whether  he  may.  without  reproach  or  charge  of  indis- 
cretion   freely  and  candidly  expound  to  all  whom  he  addresses 
rich  and  poor,  from  the  pulpit,  those  truths  on  which  few  well- 
mtormed  men  now  any  longer  entertain  a  doubt.      Until  sudx 
permission  be  fairly  granted,  the  initiated  may.  as  we  well  Imow 
go  on  lor  ages  embracing  one  creed,  while  tl      multitude  holds 
last  to  another,  and  looks  with  suspicion  and  distrust  on  th«  nhi- 


VOL.   I. 


-H 


170 


BIBLICAL  CONTROVERSY. 


[Chap.  XII 


losopher  who  unreservedly  makes  known  the  most  legitimate  de- 
ductions from  facts.  Such,  in  truth,  is  the  present  condition  of 
things  throughout  Christendom,  the  millions  being  left  in  the 
same  darkness  respecting  the  antiquity  of  the  globe,  and  the  suc- 
cessire  races  of  animals  and  plants  which  inhabited  it  before  the 
creation  of  man,  as  they  were  in  the  middle  ages ;  or,  rather, 
each  new  generation  being  allowed  to  grow  up  with,  or  derive 
from  Genesis,  ideas  directly  hostile  to  the  conclusions  universally 
received  by  all  who  have  studied  the  earth's  autobiography.  Not 
merely  the  multitude,  but  many  of  those  who  are  called  learned, 
still  continue,  while  beholding  with  delight  the  external  beauty 
of  the  rocks  and  mountains,  to  gaze  on  them  as  Virgil's  hero  ad- 
mired his  shield  of  divine  workmanship,  without  dreaming  of  its 
historical  import : — 

"  Dona  parentis 
Miratur^  •enimque  ignarus  imagine  gaudet." 

The  extent  to  which,  in  Protestant  countries,  and  where  there 
is  a  free  press,  opinions  universally  entertained  by  the  higher 
classes,  may  circulate  among  them  in  print  and  may  yet  remain 
a  sealed  book  to  the  million  as  ccmpletely  as  if  they  were  still  in 
sacerdotal  keeping,  is  such  as  no  one  antecedently  to  experience 
would  have  believed  possible.  The  discoveries  alluded  to  are  by 
no  means  confined  to  the  domain,  of  physical  science.  I  may  cite 
as  one  remarkable  example  the  detection  of  the  spurious  nature 
of  the  celebrated  verse  in  the  First  Epistle  of  John,  chap.  v.  verse 
7,  commonly  called  "  the  Three  Heavenly  Witnesses."  Luther, 
in  the  last  edition  which  he  published  of  the  Bible,  had  expunged 
this  passage  as  spurious ;  but,  shortly  after  his  death,  it  was  re- 
stored by  his  followers,  in  deference  to  popular  prepossessions  and 
Trinitarian  opinions.  Erasmus  omitted  it  in  his  editions  of  the 
New  Testament  in  the  years  1516  and  1519  ;  and  after  it  had 
been  excluded  by  several  other  eminent  critics.  Sir  Isaac  Newton 
wrote  his  celebrated  dissertation  on  the  subject  between  the  years 
1690  and  1700,  strengthening  the  arguments  previously  adduced 
against  the  genuineness  of  the  verse.  Finally,  Porson  published, 
in  1788  and  1790,  his  famous  letters,  by  which  the  qaostion  was 


Ohap.  XII.] 


BIBLICAL  CONTROVERSY. 


171 


forever  set  at  rest.  It  was  admitted  that  in  all  the  Greek  MSS. 
of  the  highest  antiquity,  the  disputed  passages  were  Wanting,  and 
Porson  enumerated  a  long  list  of  Greek  and  Latin  authors,  in- 
cludmg  the  names  of  many  fathers  of  the  Church,  who,  in  their 
controversies  with  Arians  and  Socinians,  had  not  availed  them- 
selves  of  the  text  in  question,  although  they  had  cited  some  of 
the  verses  which  immediately  precede  and  follow,  which  lend  a 
comparatively  feeble  support  to  their  argument. 

All  who  took  the  lead  against  the  genuineness  of  the  passage, 
except  Sir  Isaac  Newton,  were  Trinitarians ;  but  doubtless  felt 
with  Porson,  that  "  he  does  the  best  service  to  truth  who  hinders 
It  from  being  supported  by  falsehood."      Throughout  the  con- 
.troversy,  many  eminent  divines  of  the  Anglican  church  have 
distinguished  themcalves  by  their  scholarship  and  candor,  and  it 
IS  well  known  by  those  who  have  of  late  years  frequented  the 
literary  circles  of  Rome,  that  the  learned  Cardinal  Mai  was 
prevented,  in   1838,  from  pubhshing  his  edition  of  the  Codex 
Vaticanus,  because  he  could  not  obtain  leave  from  the  late  Pope 
(Gregory   XVI.)   to  omit  the  interpolated  passages,   and  had 
satisfied  himself  that  they  were  wanting  in  all  the  most  ancient 
MSS.  at  Rome  and  Paris.     The  Pontiff  refused,  because  he  was 
bound  by  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent,  and  of  a  Church 
pretending  to  infalhbility,  which  had  solemnly  sanctioned  the 
Vulgate,  and  the  Cardinal  had  too  much  good  faith  to  give  the 
authority  of  his  name  to  what  he  regarded  as  a  forgery.     In  Ox- 
ford,  in  1819,  the  verse  was  not  admitted,  by  the  examiners  in 
Divinity,  as  Scripture  warranty  for  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity ; 
yet,  not  only  is  it  retained  in  the  English  Prayer-Book,  in  the 
opistle  selected  for  the  first  Sunday  after  Easter,  but  the  Protest- 
ant Episcopal  Church  in  America,  when  finally  revisin«r  theii 
version  of  the  English  Liturgy  in   1801,   several  years   after 
Person's  letters  had  been  pubhshed,  did  not  omit  the  passage, 
although  they  had  the  pruning  knife  in  their  hand,  and  were  lop^ 
pmg  off  several  entire  services,  such  as  the  Commination,  Gun- 
powder  Treason,  King  Charles  the  Martyr,  the  Restoration  of 
Charles  II.,  and  last,  not  least,  the  Athanasian  Creed.     What 
IS  still  more  remarkable,  Protestants  of  every  denomination  have 


m 


173 


HOGARTH'S  ELECTION  FEAST. 


[Chap,  XII. 


gone  on  year  after  year  distributing  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
Bibles,  not  Only  without  striking  out  this  repudiated  verse,  but 
without  even  affixing  to  it  any  mark  or  annotation  to  show  the 
multitude  that  it  is  given  up  by  every  one  who  has  the  least 
pretension  to  scholarship  and  candor. 

"  Let  Truth,  stern  arbitrcss  of  all, 
Interpret  that  original. 
And  for  presumptuous  wrongs  atone  ;— 
Authentic  words  be  given,  or  none !" 

It  is  from  no  want  of  entire  sympathy  with  the  sentiment 
expressed  in  these  lines  of  "Wordsworth,  and  written  by  him  on 
a  blank  leaf  of  Macpherson's  Ossian,  that  literary  or  scientific 
men,  whether  Protestant  or  Catholic,  European  or  American, 
clergy  or  laity,  abstain  in  general  from  communicating  the  results 
of  their  scientific  or  biblical  researches  to  the  million,  still  less 
from  any  apprehension  that  the  essential  truths  of  Christianity 
wc  ild  suffer  the  slightest  injury,  were  the  new  views  to  be 
universally  known.  They  hesitate,  partly  from  false  notions  of 
expediency,  ;nd  partly  through  fear  of  the  prejudices  of  the  vulgar. 
They  dare  not  speak  out,  for  the  same  reason  that  the  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  rulers  of  England  halted  for  one  hundred  and 
seventy  years  before  they  had  courage  to  adopt  the  reform  in  the 
Julian  calendar,  which  Gregory  XIII.,  in  accordance  with  astro- 
nomical observations,  had  effected  in  1582. 

Hogarth,  in  his  picture  of  the  Election  Feast,  has  introduced 
a  banner  carried  by  one  of  the  crowd,  on  which  was  in^jribed 
the  motto,  "  Give  us  back  our  eleven  days,"  for  he  remembered 
when  the  angry  mob,  irritated  by  the  innovation  of  the  new 
style,  went  screaming  these  words  through  the  streets  of  London. 

In  like  manner,  the  acknowledged  antiquity  of  Egyptian  civil- 
ization, or  of  the  solid  framework  oi  the  globe,  with  its  monu- 
ments of  many  extinct  races  of  living  beings,  might,  if  suddenly 
disclosed  to  an  ignorant  people,  raise  as  angry  a  demand  to  give 
them  back  their  old  chronology.  Hence  arises  a  habit  of  con- 
cealing from  the  unlettered  public  discoveries  which  might,  it  is 
thought,  perplex  them,  and  unsettle  their  old  opinions.  This 
method  of  dealing  with  the  most  sacred  of  subjects,  may  thus  be 


Chap.  XII.l 


LAY  TEACHERS. 


173 


illustrated  : — A  few  tares  have  grown  up  among  the  wheat ; 
you  must  not  pull  them  up,  or  you  will  loosen  the  soil  and  expose 
the  roots  of  the  good  grain,  and  then  all  may  wither  :  moreover, 
you  must  go  on  sowing  the  seeds  of  the  same  tares  in  the  mind 
of  the  rising  generation,  for  you  can  not  open  the  eyes  of  the 
children  without  undeceiving  and  alarming  their  parents.  Now 
the  perpetuation  of  error  among  the  many,  is  only  one  part  cf 
the  mischief  of  this  want  of  good  faith,  for  it  is  also  an  abandon- 
ment by  the  few  of  the  high  ground  on  which  their  religion 
ought  to  stand,  namely,  its  truth.  It  accustoms  the  teacher  to 
regard  his  religion  in  its  relation  to  the  millions  as  a  mere  piece 
of  machinery,  like  a  police,  for  preserving  order,  or  enabling  one 
class  of  men  to  govern  another. 

If  such^a  state  of  things  be  unsound  and  unsatisfactory,  it  is 
not  so  much  the  clergy  who.  are  to  blame  as  the  laity ;  for  lay- 
men have  more  freedom  of  action,  and  can  with  less  sacrifice  of 
personal  interests  take  the  initiative  in  a  reform.      The  cure  of 
the  evil  is  obvious  ;  it  consists  in  giving  such  instruction  to  the 
people  at  large  as  would  make  concealment  impossible.     What- 
ever is  known  and  intelligible  to  ordinary  capacities  in  science, 
especially  if  contrary  to  the  first  and  natural  impressions  deriv- 
able from  the  literal  meaning,  or  ordinary  acceptation  of  the  text 
of  Scripture,  whether  in  astronomy,  geology,  or  any  other  depart- 
ment of  knowledge,  should  be  freely  communicated  to  all.     Lay 
teachers,  not  professionally  devoted  and  pledged  to  propagate  the 
opinions  of  particular  sects,  will  do  this  much  more  freely  than 
ecclesiastics,  and,  as  a  matter  of  course,  in  proportion  as  the 
standard  of  public  instruction  is  raised ;  and  no  order  of  men 
would  be  such  gainers  by  the  measure  as  the  clergy,  especially 
the  most  able  and  upright  among  them. .   Every  normal  school, 
every  advance  made  in  the  social  and  intellectual  position  of  the 
lay  teachers,  tends  to  emancipate,  not  the  masses  alone,  but  still 
more  efl^ectually  their  spiritual  guides,  and  would  increase  their 
usefulness  in  a  tenfold  degree.       That  a  clergy  may  be  well 
informed  for  the  age  they  live  in,  and  may  contain  among  them 
many  learned  and  good  men,  while  the  people  remain  in  dark- 
ness,  we  know  from  history ;  for  the  spiritual  instructors  may 


174 


PAY  OF  CLERGY. 


[Chap.  Xil. 


wish  to  keep  the  multitude  in  ignorance,  with  a  view  of  main- 
taining their  own  power.      But  no  educated  people  will  ever 
tolerate  an  idle,  illiterate,  nv  siaiionary  priesthood.     That  this  is 
impossible,  the  experif^uk-  <  f  t!io  last  quarter  of  a  century  in 
New  England  has  ially  pn-ved.     In  confirmation  of  this  truth, 
I  may  appeal  to  the  progress  made  by  the  ministers  o.  the  Meth- 
odist and  Baptist  churches  of  late  years.      Their  missionaries 
found  the  Congregationalists  slumbering  in  all  the  security  of  an 
old  establishment,   and  soon  made  numcru,.:   converts,   besides 
recruiting  their   ranks   largely  from  newly  arrived    emigrants. 
They  were  able  to  send  more  preachers  into  the  vineyard,  be- 
cause they  required  at  first  scarcely  any  preparation  or  other 
qualification  than  zeal.      But  no  sooner  had  the  children  of  the 
first  converts  been  taught  in  the  free  schools  under  an  improved 
system,  than  the  clergy  of  these  very  denominations,  who  had 
for  a  time  gloried  in  their  ignorance  and  spoken  with  contempt 
of  all  human  knowledge,  found  it  necessary  to  study  for  some 
years  in  theological  seminaries,   and  attend  courses  of  church 
history,  the  Greek,  Latin,  Hebrew,  and  German  languages,  the 
modern   writings  of  German   and  other  biblical   scholars,    and 
every  branch  of  divinity.     The  Baptist  college  at  Newton  has 
greatly  distinguished  itself  among  others,  and  that  of  the  Meth- 
odists at  Middletown  in  Connecticut  ;  while  the  Independents 
have  their  theological  college  at  Andover  in  Massachusetts,  which 
has  acquired  much  celebrity,  and  drawn  to  it  pupils  from  great 
distances,  and  of  many  different  denominations. 

The  large  collections  of  books  on  divinity  which  are  now  seen 
in  the  libraries  of  New  England  clergy,  were  almost  unknown 
a  quarter  of  a  century  ago. 

The  average  pay,  also,  of  the  clergy  in  the  rural  districts  of 
New  England  has  increased.  About  the  middle  of  the  last 
century,  it  was  not  more  than  200  dollars  annually,  so  that  they 
were  literally  "  passing  rich  with  forty  pounds  a  year ;"  whereas 
now  they  usually  receive  500  at  least,  and  some  in  the  cities 
2000  or  3000  dollars.  Nor  can  there  be  a  doubt  that,  in  pro- 
portion as  the  lay  teachers  are  more  liberally  remunerated,  the 
scale  of  income  required  to  command  the  services  of  men  of 


3hap.  XII.] 


POPULAR  INSTRUCTION. 


175 


talent   in  the  clerical   profession,    must   and   will  bo 


Rrst-rate 
raised. 

Already  there  are  many  indications  in  Massachusetts  that  a 
demand  for  higher  qualifications  in  men  educated  for  the  pulpit 
is  springing  up.  It  is  no  bad  augury  to  hear  a  minister  exhort 
his  younger  brethren  at  their  ordination  not  to  stand  in  awe  of 
their  congregations,  but  to  remember  they  have  before  them  sin- 
ful men  who  are  to  be  warned,  not  critics  who  are  to  be  propi- 
tiated.     '<  Formerly,"    said   Channing,    «« Felix  trembled  before 

Paul ;  it  is  now  the  successor  of  Paul  who  trembles  :" a  saying 

which,  coming  as  it  did  from  a  powerful  and  successful  preacher, 
implies  that  the  people  are  awaking,  not  that  they  are  growing 
indifferent  about  religious  matters,  but  that  the  day  of  soporific 
discourses,  full  of  empty  declamation  or  unmeaning  common- 
places, is  dra"'ving  to  a  close. 

It  will  be  asked,  however,  even  by  some  who  are  favorable  to 
popular  education,  whether  the  masses  can  have  leisure  to  profit 
in  after  life  by  such  a  style  of  teaching  as  the  government  of 
Massachusetts  is  now  ambitious  of  affording  to  the  youth  of  the 
country,  between  the  ages  of  four  and  fourteen.  To  this  I  may 
answer,  that  in  nations  less  prosperous  and  progressive  it  is  ascer- 
tained thft  men  may  provide  for  all  their  bodily  wants,  may  feed 
and  clothe  themselves,  and  yet  give  up  one-seventh  part  of  their 
time,  or  every  Sabbath,  to  their  religious  duties.  That  their  re- 
ligion should  consist  not  merely  in  the  cultivation  of  a  devotional 
spirit  toward  their  Maker,  but  also  in  acquiring  pure  and  lofty 
conceptions  of  his  attributes — a  knowledge  of  the  power  and 
wisdom  displayed  in  his  works — an  acquaintance  with  his  moral 
laws — a  just  sense  of  their  own  responsibility,  a  id  an  exercise  of 
their  understandings  in  appreciating  the  evidences  of  their  faith, 
few  of  my  readers  will  deny.  To  insure  the  accomplish'^ent  of 
these  objects,  preparatory  education  in  good  schools  is  indis- 
pensable. It  iS  not  enough  to  build  churches  and  cathedrals,  to 
endow  universities  or  theological  colleges,  or  to  devote  a  large 
portion  of  the  national  revenues  to  enable  a  body  of  spiritual  in- 
structors to  discharge,  among  other  ecclesiastical  duties,  that  ot 
preaching  good  sermons  from  the  pulpit.      Their  seed  may  fall 


17« 


rorULAR  INSTRUCTION. 


[Chap.  XII. 


on  a  soil  naturally  fertile,  but  will  perish  if  there  has  been  no 
previous  culture  of  the  ground.  At  the  end  of  seventy  years 
men  of  good  natural  abilities,  who  have  been  attentive  to  their 
religious  observances,  have  given  up  ten  entire  yedrs  of  their  life, 
a  period  thrice  as  long  as  is  required  for  an  academical  course 
of  study,  and  at  the  close  of  such  a  career  may,  as  we  know,  bo 
ignorant,  sensual,  and  superstitious,  and  have  little  love  or  taste 
lor  things  intellectual  or  spiritual. 

But  granting  that  time  and  leisure  may  be  found,  it  mil  still 
be  asked  whether,  if  men  of  the  humblest  condition  be  taught  to 
enjoy  the  poems  of  Milton  and  Gray,  the  romances  of  Scott,  or 
lectures  on  literature,  astronomy,  aud  botany,  or  if  they  read  a 
daily  newspaper  and  often  indulge  in  the  stirring  excitement  of 
party  politics,  they  will  be  contented  with  their  situation  in  life, 
and  submit  to  hard  labor.  All  apprehension  of  such  consequences 
is  rapidly  disappearing  in  the  more  advanced  states  of  the  Ameri- 
can Union.  It  is  acknowledged  by  the  rich  that,  where  the  free 
schools  have  been  most  improved,  the  people  are  least  addicted 
to  intemperance,  are  more  provident,  have  more  respect  for  prop- 
erty and  the  laws,  are  more  conservative,  and  less  led  away  by 
socialist  or  other  revolutionary  doctrines.  So  far  from  indolence 
being  the  characteristic  of  the  laboring  classes,  where  they  are 
best  informed,  the  New  Englanders  are  rather  too  much  given  to 
overwork  both  body  and  brain.  They  make  better  pioneers, 
when  roughing  it  in  a  log-house  in  the  backwoods,  than  the  un- 
educated Highlander  or  Irishman ;  and  the  factory  girls  of 
Lowell,  who  publish  their  "  Offering,"  containing  their  own 
original  poems  and  essays,  work  twelve  hours  a  day,  and  have 
not  yet  petitioned  for  a  ten-hour  bill. 

In  speculating  on  the  probability  of  the  other  states  in  the 
north,  south,  and  west,  some  of  them  differing  greatly  in  the  de- 
gree of  their  social  advancement,  and  many  of  them  retarded  by 
negro  slavery,  adopting  readily  the  example  set  them  by  the 
New  Englanders,  and  establishing  free  and  normal  schools,  I 
find  that  American  enthusiasts  build  their  hopes  chiefly  on  that 
powerful  stimulus  which  they  say  is  offered  by  their  institutions 
for  popular  education — a  stimulus  such  as  was  never  experienced 


OllAP.   XII.] 


POPULAR  INSTRUCTION. 


177 


before  in  any  country  in  the  world.      This  consists  not  so  much 
m  the  absence  of  pauperism,  or  in  the  individual  liberty  enjoyod 
by  every  one  in  civil  and  religious  rights,  but  in  the  absence  of 
the  mfluence  of  family  and  fortune— the  fair  field  of  competition, 
freely  open  to  all  who  aspire,  however  humble,  to  rise  one  day 
to  high  employments,  especially  to  official  or  professional  posts, 
whether  lay  or  ecclesiastical,  civil  or  military,   requiring  early 
cultivation.      Few  will   realize  their   ambitious    longings;    bui 
every  parent  feels  it  a  duty  to  provide  that  his  child  should  not 
bo  shut  out  from  all  chance  of  winning  some  one  of  the  numerous 
prizes,  which  are  awarded  solely  on  the  ground  of  personal  quali- 
fications,  not  always  to  the  most  worthy,  but  at  least  without 
any  regard  to  birth  or  hereditary  wealth.      It  seems  difficult  to 
foresee  the  limit  of  taxation  which  a  population,  usually  very  in- 
tolerant of  direct  taxes,  will  not  impose  on  themselves  to  secure 
an  object  in  which  they  have  all  so  great  a  stake,  nor  does  any 
serious  obstacle  or  influence   seem  likely  to  oppose  their  will. 
There  is  in  no  state,  for  example,  any  dominant  ecclesiastical 
body  sufficiently  powerful  to  thwart  the  maxims  of  those  states- 
men  who  maintain  that,  as  the  people  are  determined  to  govern 
themselves,  they  must  be  carefully  taught   and  fitted  for  self- 
government,  and  receive  secular  instruction  in  common  schools 
open  to  all.      The  Roman  Catholic  priests,  it  is  true,  in  the  state 
of  New  York,  where  there  are  now  11,000  schools  in  a  popula- 
tion of  two  millions  and  a  half,  have  made  some  vigorous  efibrts 
to  get  the  exclusive  management  of  a  portion  of  the  school  funds 
into  their  own  hands,  and  one,  at  least,  of  the  Protestant  sects 
has  openly  avowed  its  sympathy  in  the  movement.     But  they 
have  failed  from  the  extreme  difficulty  of  organizing  a  combined 
effort,  where  the  leaders  of  a  great  variety  of  rival  denominations 
are  jealous  of  one  another ;  and,  fortunately,  the  clergy  are  be- 
coming more  and  more  convinced  that,  where  the  education  of 
the  million  has  been  carried  farthest,  the  people  are  most  regular 
in  their  attendance  on  public  worship,  most  zealous  in  the  de- 
fense of  their  theological  opinions,  and  most  liberal  in  contribut- 
ing funds  for  the  support  of  their  pastors  and  the  building  of 
churches. 


•J  *J 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Leaving  Boston  for  the  South. — Railway  Stove. — Fall  of  Snow.— New  Haven, 
and  Visit  to  Professor  Silliman. — New  York. — Improvements  in  the 
City. — Crolon  Waterworks. — Fountains. — Recent  Conflagration. — New 
Churches. — Trinity  Church. — News  from  Europe  of  Converts  to  Rome. — 
Reaction  Pgainst  Tractarians.  —  Electric  Telegraph,  its  Progress  in 
America. — Morse  and  Wheatstonfe. — 11,000  Schools  in  New  York  for 
Secular  Instruction. — Absence  of  Smoke. — Irish  Voters. — Nativism. 

Dec.  3.  1 S45 — Having  resolved  to  devote  the  next  six  months 
of  my  stay  in  America  to  a  geological  exploration,  of  those  parts 
of  the  country  which  I  had  not  yet  visited,  I  left  Boston  just  as 
the  cold  weather  was  setting  in,  to  spend  the  winter  in  the  south. 
The  thermometer  had  fallen  to  23°  F.,  and  on  our  way  to  the 
cars  we  saw  skaters  on  the  ice  in  the  common.  Soon  after  we 
started,  heavy  snow  began  to  fall,  but  in  spite  of  the  storm  we 
were  carried  to  Springfield,  luO  miles,  in  five  hours.  We  passed 
a  luggage  train  with  twenty-two  loaded  cars,  rolling  past  us  in 
the  opposite  direction,  on  1 00  wheels,  including  those  of  the  engine 
and  tender.  In  the  English  railways,  the  passengers  often  suffer 
much  from  cold  in  winter,  H<?re,  the  stove  in  the  center  of  the 
long  omnibus  is  a  great  luxury,  and  I  saw  one  traveler  after  an 
other  leave  his  seat,  walk  up  to  it  and  warm  his  feet  on  the  fender. 
As  I  was  standing  there,  a  gentleman  gave  me  the  President's 
speech  to  read,  which,  by  means  of  a  railway  express,  had,  for 
the  first  time,  been  brought  from  Washington  to  Boston,  470 
miles,  in  one  day.  It  was  read  with  interest,  as  all  were 
speculating  on  the  probability  of  a  war  with  England  about 
Oregon.  While  I  was  indulging  my  thoughts  on  the  rapid 
communicatipn  of  intelligence  by  newspapers  and  the  speed  and 
safety  of  railway  traveling,  a  fellow-passenger  interrapted  my 
pleasing  reveries  by  telling  me  I  was  standing  too  near  the  iron 
stove,  which  had  scorched  my  clothes  and  burnt  a  hole  in  my 
great  coat,  and  immediately  afterward  I  learnt  at  Springfield,  that 


Chap.  XIII.]        VISIT  TO  PROFESSOR  SILLIMAN. 


179 


US  in 


the  cars  on  the  hne  between  that  toAvn  and  Albany,  where  there 
IS  only  one  track,  had  run  against  a  luggage  train  near  Chester 
and  many  passengers  were  injured.      Some  say  that  two  were 
killed.      According  to  others,  one  of  the  trains  was  five  minutes 
before  its  tune  ;   but  our  informant  took  my  thoughts  back  to 
England,  and  English  narratives  of  the  like  catastrophes  by  say- 
mg,  «'  It  has  been  ascertained  that  no  one  was  to  blame  "     We 
had  no  reason  to  boast  of  our  speed  the  next  day,  for  we  were 
twelve  hours  in  going  sixty-two  miles  to  New  Haven.    The  delay 
was  caused  by  ice  on  the  rail,  and  by  our  having  to  wait  to  let 
the  New  YorK  train  pass  us,  there  being  only  one  line  of  rail. 
A  storm  m  the  Sound  had  occasioned  the  New  York  cars  to  be 
five  hours  behind  their  time.      We  saw  many  sleighs  dashing 
past  and  crossing  our  road.     It  was  late  before  we  reached  the 
i^ospitable  house  of  Professor  Silliman,  who  with  his  son  gave  me 
many  valuable  instructions  for  my  southern  tour.      Their  letters 
of  mtroduc    ,n,  however,  though  most  useful,  were  a  small  part 
of  the  service  they  did  me  both  in  this  tour  and  during  my  former 
visit  to  America.      Every  where,  even  in  the  states  most  remote 
from  New  England,  I  met  with  men  who,  having  been  the  pupils 
ot  Professor  Silliman,  and  having  listened  to  his  lectures  when  at 
college,  had  invariably  imbibed  a  love  for  natural  history  and 
physical  science. 

In  the  morning,  when  we  embarked  in  the  stvjamer  for  New 
York,  I  was  amused  at  the  difi'erent  aspect  of  the  New  Haven 
scenery  from  that  which  I  remembered  in  the  autumn  of  1841. 
The  East  Rock  was  now  covered  with  snow,  all  but  the  bold 
precipice  of  columnar  basalt.      The  trees,  several  of  which,  espe- 
cially the  willows,  still  retained  many  of  their  leaves,  were  bent 
down  beneath  a  weight  of  ice.      I  never  saw  so  brilliant  a  spec- 
tacle of  the  kind,  for  every  bough  of  the  large  drooping  elms  and 
the  smaUest  twigs  of  every  tree  and  shrub  were  hun«r  with  trans- 
parent icicles,  which,  in  the  bright  sunshine,  reflected  the  pris- 
matic colors  like  the  cut-glass  drops  of  a  chandelier.    As  we  sailed 
out  of  the  harbor,  which  was  crowded  with  vessels,  we  saw  all 
the  ropes  of  their  riggings  similarly  adorned  with  crystals  of  use 
A  stormy  voyage  of  nine  hours  carried  us  through  Long  Island 


180 


CROTON  WATERWORKS. 


[Chap.  XIII. 


Sound,  a  distance  of  ninety  miles,  to  New  York.  It  is  only  three 
years  since  we  were  last  in  this  city,  yet  in  this  short  interval  we 
see  improvements  equaling  in  importance  the  increase  of  the 
population,  which  now  amounts  in  round  numbers  to  440,000  ; 
New  York  containing  361,000,  and  Brooklyn,  which  is  con- 
nected with  it  by  a  ferry,  together  with  Williamsburg  79,000 
Among  other  novelties  since  1841,  we  observe  with  pleasure  the 
new  fountains  in  the  midst  of  the  city  supplied  from  the  Croton 
waterworks,  finer  than  any  which  I  remember  to  have  seen  in 
the  center  of  a  city  since  I  was  last  in  Rome.  Two  of  them 
are  now,  in  spite  of  an  intense  frost,  throwing  up  columns  of  water 
more  than  thirty  feet  high,  one  opposite  the  City  Hall,  and  an- 
other in  Hudson  Square ;  but  I  am  told  that  when  we  return  in 
the  summer  we  shall  see  many  others  in  action.  A  work  more 
akin  in  magnificence  to  the  ancient  and  modern  Roman  aqueducts 
has  not  been  achieved  in  our  times ;  the  water  having  been 
brought  from  the  Croton  river,  a  distance  of  about  fo.  ty  miles, 
at  the  expense  of  about  three  millions  sterling.  The  health  of 
the  city  is  said  to  have  already  gained  by  greater  cleanliness  and 
more  wholesome  water  for  drinking  ;  and  I  hear  from  an  eminent 
physician  that  statistical  tables  show  that  cases  of  infantine  cholera 
and  some  other  complaints  have  sensibly  lessened.  The  water  can 
be  carried  to  the  attics  of  every  house,  and  many  are  introducing 
baths  and  indulging  in  ornamental  fountains  in  private  gardens. 
The  rate  of  insurance  for  fire  has  been  lowered  ;  and  I  could  not 
help  reflecting  as  I  looked  at  the  moving  water,  at  a  season  when 
every  pond  is  covered  with  ice,  how  much  more  security  the  city 
must  now  enjoy  than  during  the  great  conflagration  in  the  winter 
of  1835,  when  there  was  such  a  want  of  water  to  supply  the 
engines.  Only  five  months  ago  (July  19th,  1845),  another 
destructive  fire  broke  out  near  the  battery,  and  when  it  was 
nearly  extinguished  by  the  aid  of  the  Croton  water,  a  tremendous 
explosion  of  saltpeter  killed  many  of  the  firemen,  and  scattered 
the  burning  materials  to  great  distances,  igniting  houses  in  every 
direction.  A  belief  that  more  gunpowder  still  remained  unex- 
ploded  checked  for  a  time  the  approach  of  the  firemen,  so  tnat  a 
large  area  was  laid  waste,  and  even  now  some  of  the  ruins  are 


Chap.  XIII.] 


NEW  CHURCHES. 


m 


smoking,   there   being  a  smoldering  heat  in  cellars  filled  with 
-dry  goods."    When  the  citizens  of  London  rejected  the  splendid 
plan  which  Sir  Christopher  Wren  proposed  for  its  restoration  he 
declared  that  they  had  not  deserved  a  fire,  but  the  New  Yorkers 
seem  to  have  taken  full  advantage  of  the  late  catastrophe.      As 
It  was  the  business  part  of  the  city  which  the  flames  laid  in 
rmns,  we  could  not  expect  much  display  of  ornamental  architec- 
ture ;  but  already,  before  the  ashes  have  done  smoking,  we  see 
entire  streets  of  substantial  houses  which  have  risen  to  their  full 
height,   and  the  ground  has  been  raised  five  feet  higher  than 
iormerly  above  the  river,  so  as  to  secure  it  from  inundations, 
which  has  so  enhanced  its  value,  that  many  of  the  sites  alone 
have  sold  for  prices  equal  to  the  value  of  the  buildin^^s  which 
once  covered  them.     Among  the  new  edifices,  we  were  shown 
some  which  are  fire-proof     Unfortunately,  many  a  fine  tree  has 
been  burned,  and  they  are  still  standing  without  their  bark,  but 
the  weeping  willows  bordering  the  river  on  the  Battery  have 
escaped  unhinged. 

Among  the  new  features  of  the  city  we  see  several  fine  church- 
es, some  built  from  their  foundations,  others  finished  since  1841 
The  wooden  spires  of  several  are  elegant,  and  so  solid,  as  to  have 
all  the  outward  effect  of  stone      The  two  most  conspicuous  of 
«ie  new  edifices  are  Episcopalian,  Trinity  and  Grace  Church 
The  cost  of  the  former  has  been  chiefly  defrayed  by  funds  derived 
from  the  rent  of  houses  in  New  York,  bequeathed  long  since  to 
the  Episcopal  Church.      The  expense  is  said  to  have  equaled 
that  of  erecting  any  four  other  churches  in  the  city.    It  is  entire- 
ly of  stone,  a  fine-grained  sandstone  of  an  agreeable  light-brown 
tint.     The  top  of  the  steeple  is  289  feet  from  the  ground.     The 
effect  of  the  Gothic  architecture  is  very  fine,  and  the  Episcopa- 
lians may  now  boast  that  of  all  the  ecclesiastical  edifices  of  this 
ccntment.  they  have  erected  the  most  beautiful.      Its  position  is 
admirably  chosen,  as  it  forms  a  prominent  feature  in  Broadway, 
the  principal  street,  and  in  another  direction  looks  down  Wall- 
street,  the  great  center  of  city  business.      It  is  therefore  seen 
from  great  distances  in  this  atmosphere,  so  beautifully  clear  even 
at  this  season,  when  every  sto-e  is  lighted,  and  when  the  ther- 


.  i 


i       f     ' 


182 


TRINITY  CHURCH. 


[Chap.  XIII. 


mometer  has  fallen  twenty  degrees  below  the  freezing  point. 
Where  there  is  so  much  bright  sunshine  and  no  smoke,  an  archi- 
tect may  well  be  inspired  with  ambition,  conscious  that  the  effect 
of  every  pillar  and  other  ornament  will  be  fully  brought  out  with 
their  true  lights  and  shades.  The  style  if  the  exterior  of  Trinity 
Church  reminds  us  of  bome  of  our  old  Gothic  churches  in  Lin- 
colnslire  and  Northamptonshire.  The  interior  is  in  equally  good 
tastD,  the  middle  aisle  sixty-five  feet  high,  but  the  clustered 
columns  will  not  have  so  stately  an  appearance,  nor  display 
their  true  proportions  when  the  wooden  pews  have  been  intro- 
duced round  their  base.  An  attempt  was  made  to  dispense 
with  these ;  but  the  measure  could  not  be  carried ;  in  fact,  much 
as  we  may  admire  the  architectural  beauty  of  such  a  cathedral, 
one  can  not  but  feel  that  such  edifices  were  planned  by  the 
genius  of  other  ages,  and  adapted  to  a  different  form  of  worship. 
When  the  forty-five  windows  of  painted  glass  are  finished,  and 
the  white-robed  choristers  are  singing  the  Cathedral  service,  to 
be  performed  here  daily,  and  when  the  noble  organ  peals  forth 
its  swelling  notes  to  the  arched  roof,  the  whole  service  w^ill 
remind  us  of  the  da;;  s  of  Romanism,  rather  than  seem  suitable 
to  the  wants  of  a  Protestant  congregation.  It  is  not  the  form 
of  building  best  fitted  for  instructing  a  large  audience.  To  make 
the  whole  in  keeping,  we  ought  to  throw  down  the  pews,  and  let 
processions  of  priests  in  their  robes  of  crimson,  embroidered  with 
gold,  preceded  by  boys  swinging  censers,  and  followed  by  a  crowd 
of  admiring  devotees,  sweep  through  the  spacious  nave. 

That  the  whole  pomp  and  splendor  of  the  ancient  ceremonial 
will  gradually  be  restored,  with  no  small  portion  of  its  kindred 
dogmas,  is  a  speculation  in  which  some  are  said  to  be  actually 
indulging  their  thoughts,  f,nd  is  by  no  means  so  visionary  an  idea 
as  half  a  century  ago  it  might  have  been  thought.  In  the  dio- 
cese of  New  York,  the  party  which  has  adopted  the  views  com- 
monly called  Puseyite,  appears  to  have  gone  greater  lengths 
than  in  any  part  of  England.  The  newspapers  published  in 
various  parts  of  the  Union  bear  testimony  to  a  wide  extension  of 
the  like  movement.  We  read,  for  example,  a  statement  of  a 
bishop  who  has  ordered  the  revolving  reading  desk  of  a  curate  to 


Chap.  XITI.] 


CONVERTS  TO  ROME. 


183 


be  nailed  to  the  wall,  that  he  might  be  unable  to  turn  with  it 
toward  the  altar.      The  offending  clergyman  has  resigned  for  the 
sake  of  peace,  and  part  of  his  congregation  sympathizing  in  his 
views  have  raised  for  him  a  sum  of  6000  dollars.      In  another 
paper  I  see  a  letter  of  remonstrance  from  a  bishop  to  an  Episco- 
pal clergyman,  for  attending  vespers  in  a  Romanist  church,  and 
for  crossmg  himself  with  holy  water  as  he  entered.      The  epistle 
finishes  with  an  inquiry  if  it  be  true  that  he  had  purchased 
severe  1  copies  of  the  Ursuline  Manual  for  yonng  persons.      The 
clergyman,  in  reply,  complains  of  this  petty  and  annoying  inqui- 
sition into  his  private  affairs,  openly  avows  that  he  is  earnestly 
examining  into   the    history,   character,   claims,   doctrines,   and 
usages  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  and  desirous  of  becoming  practi- 
cally acquainted  with  their  forms  of  worship — that  when  present 
for  this  purpose  he  had  thought  it  right  to  conform  to  the  usage 
of  the  congregation,  &c. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  anecdotes,  and  advert  to  contro- 
verr,ial  pamphlets,  with  which  the  press  is  teeming,  in  proof  of 
the  lively  interest  now  taken  in  similar  ecclesiastical  Question?, 
so  that  the  reader  may  conceive  the  sensation  just  created  here 
by  a  piece  of  intelligence  which  reached  New  York  the  very  day 
of  our  arrival,  and  is  now  going  the  round  of  the  newspapers, 
namely,  the  conversion  to  the  Romish  -Church  of  the  R  ev.  Mr.' 
Newrnan,  of  Oxford.  Some  of  his  greatest  admirers  are  put  to 
confusion ;  others  are  rejoicing  in  the  hope  that  the  event  may 
prove  a  warning  to  many  who  have  departed  from  the  spirit  of 
the  Reformation ;  and  a  third  party,  who  gave  no  credit  for  sin- 
cerity to  the  leaders  of  a  movement  which  they  regarded  as 
retrograde,  and  who  still  suspect  that  they  who  haA^e  joined  in  it 
here  are  actuated  by  worldly  motives,  are  confessing  that  they 
did  injustice  to  the  great  Oxford  tractarian.  One  of  them  re- 
marked to  me,  "  We  are  often  told  from  the  pulpit  here  that  we 
live  in  an  age  of  skepticism,  and  that  it  is  the  tendency  of  our 
times  to  believe  i-jo  .-iUe  rather  than  too  much;  and  yet  'Pvotes!- 
ants  of  superior  tuJori  are  now  ready  to  make  these  great  sacri- 
fices for  the  sake  of  r'^turning  to  the  faith  of  Rome  !"  I  might 
have  replied,  that  reaction  seems  to  be  almost  as  much  a  princi- 


184 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 


LCHiP.  XIIL 


pie  of 


of 


:  material  world,  and  that  we  know, 
from  the  posthumous  writings  of  one  who  had  lived  on  intimate 
terms  with  the  originators  of  the  Tractarian  movement  in  Oxford, 
that  a  recoil  from  doubts  derived  irom  the  study  of  the  German 
rationalists,  led  directly  to  their  departure  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tiou.  "  They  flung  themselves,"  says  Blanco  White,  writinsr  in 
1837,  "on  a  phantom  which  they  called  Chureh.  Their  plan 
was  to  stop  all  inquiry,"  and  "  to  restore  popery,  excluding  the 
pope."*  Meanwhile,  the  attempt  to  revive  the  credulity  of  the 
middle  ages,  and  to  resuscilate  a  belief  in  all  the  miracles  of 
mediaeval  saints,  has  produced,  as  might  naturally  have  been 
expected,  another  reaction,  giving  strength  to  a  party  called  the 
anti-supernptT7>-alists,  who  entirely  reject  all  the  historical  evi- 
dence in  favor  of  the  Scripture  miracles.  Their  leader  in  New 
England,  Mr.  Tl  eodore  Parker,  is  the  author  of  a  work  of  great 
erudition,  originality,  r  r^d  earnestness  (lately  reprinted  in  England), 
in  which,  while  retaining  a  belief  in  the  Divine  origin  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  the  binding  nature  of  its  moral  code,  he  abandons  the 
greater  part  of  the  evidences  on  which  its  truth  has  hitherto  been 
considered  to  repose.  I  heard  this  author,  during  my  late  stay 
in  Boston,  preach  to  a  congregation  respectable  for  its  numbers 
and  station. 

Next  to  the  new  churches  and  fountains,  the  most  striking 
change  observable  in  the  streets  of  New  York  since  1841,  is  the 
introduction  of  the  electric  telegraph,  the  posts  of  which,  about 
30  feet  high  and  100  yards  apart,  tra-^erse  Broadway,  and  are 
certainly  not  ornamental.  Occasionally,  where  the  trees  interfere, 
the  wires  are  made  to  cross  the  street  diagoi."ally.  The  success- 
ful exertions  made  to  render  this  mode  of  communication  popular, 
and  so  to  cheapen  it  as  to  bring  the  advantages  of  it  within  the 
reach  of  the  largest  possible  number  of  merchants,  newspaper 
editors,  and  private  individuals,  is  characteristic  of  the  country 
There  is  a  general  desire  evinced  of  overcoming  space,  which 
seems  to  inspire  all  their  exertions  for  extending  and  improving 
railways,  lines  of  steam  navigation.,  and  these  telegraphs.  Agri- 
culturists and  mercantile  men  in  remote  places,  are  eager  to  know 
*  Life  of  J.  Blanco  White,  vol.  ii.  p.  355,  and  vol.  iii.  p.  106. 


Chap.  XII I.J  THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 


183 


every  where,  on  the  very  day  of  the  arrival  of  an  Atlantic  mail 
steamer,  the  prices  of  grain,  cotton,  and  other  articles  in  the  Euro- 
pean markets,  so  that  they  may  speculate  on  equal  terms  with  the 
ci  izens  of  Boston  and  New  York.      The  politician,  who  is  am- 
bitious not  only  of  retaining  all  the  states  of  the  Union  in  one 
powerful  confederation,  but  of  comprising  the  whole  continent 
under  one  empire,  hails   the  new  invention  with  delight,   and 
foresees  kt  once  its  important  consequences.    'Mr.  Winthrop  well 
knew  the  temper  of  the  people  whom  he  addressed,  when  he 
congratulated  a  large  meeting,  that  they  might  now  send  intelli- 
gence  from  one  end  of  the  Union  to  the  other  with  the  rapidity 
of  thought,  and  that  they  had  realized  the  promise  of  the  King 
of  the  Fairies,  that  he  would  "put  a  girdle  round  about  the  earth 
m  forty  minutes.        Already  many  paragraphs  in  the  newspapers 
are  headed   «<  Received  by  lightning,  printed  by  steam,"  and  all 
seem  heartily  to  welcome  the  discovery  as  an  instrum.ent  of  prog- 

boastfu]^t^^'°"'°*"'^  '"'^  ^'''^''  ^^'^  ""^^  ^'''^^™'  ''''*^°"* 

"  These  are  imperial  arts,  and  worthy  kings." 

After  my  return  from  America,  I  learned  that  the  length  of 
if.oT^^^*^^  '"  ^^^^'  ^"io"nted  to  above  1600  miles,  and  in 
1848  there  were  more  than  5000  miles  of  wire  laid  down  In 
that  year  one  of  my  English  friends  sent  a  message  by  tele- 
graph  to  Liverpool,  in  September,  which  reached  Boston  bv 
mail  stearner,  via  Halifax,  in  twelve  days,  and  was  sent  on  im- 
mediately by  electric  telegraph  to  New  Orleans,  in  one  day,  the 
answer  returning  to  Boston  the  day  after.  Three  days  were 
xaen  lost  in  wailing  for  the  steam-packet,  which  conveyed  the 
message  back  to  England  in  twelve  days;  so  that  the  reply 
reached  London  on  the  twenty-ninth  day  from  the  sending  of  the 
question,  the  whole  distance  being  more  than  10,000  miles,  which 
Had  been  traversed  at  an  average  rate  exceeding  350  miles  a  day. 

li  1-.  satisfactory  to  learn  that  the  telegraph,  although  so  often 
passmg  through  a  wild  country,  in  some  places  anticipatino-  even 
the  railway,  seems  never  yet  to  have  been  injured  by  thebvers 
ot  nuschief     The  wires  have  also  been  often  struck  by  light- 


W"" 


186 


THE  ELECTRIC  TELEGRAPH. 


[Chap.  XHl 


ning,  so  frequent  and  vivid  in  this  climate,  without  serious  de- 
rangement of  the  delicate  machinery.  The  telegraph  generally 
in  use  is  the  patent  of  Mr.  Morse,  whose  invention  combines  the 
power  of  printing  a  message  simultaneously  with  its  transmis- 
sion. As  the  magnetic  force  becomes  extremely  feeble  when 
conducted  through  a  great  length  of  wire,  Morse  employs  it  sim- 
ply to  make  a  needle  vibrate,  and  so  open  and  close  the  galvanic 
circuit  placed  in  each  office,  where  a  local  battery  is  sdt  in  mo- 
tion, which  works  the  printing  machine.  The  long  wires, 
therefore,  may  be  compared  to  slender  trains  of  gunpowder, 
which  are  made  to  fire  a  distant  carmon  or  mine.  It  is  not  the 
battery  in  Philadelphia  which  works  the  instrument  in  Wash- 
ington, but  a  battery  in  the  Washington  office.  This  contrivance 
is  obviously  nothing  more  than  a  new  adaptation  of  the  method 
specified  by  Mr.  Wheatstone,  in  his  patent  of  June,  1837,  for 
ringing  an  alarum  bell  in  each  station  by  means  of  a  local  bat- 
tery, of  which  I  saw  him  exhibit  experiments  in  1837. 

In  September  of  the  same  year  Mr.  Morse  invented  an  in- 
genious mode  of  printing  ir  ages,  by  causing  an  endless  scroll  of 
paper  to  roll  oft'  one  cylinUv.  "  to  another  by  means  of  clock- 
work, the  paper  being  made  to  ^jass  under  a  steel  pen.  which  is 
moved  by  electro-magnetism. 

An  agent  of  Mr.  Morse  explained  to  me  the  manner  in  which 
the  steel  pen  was  made  to  indent  the  paper,  which  is  not  pierced, 
-but  appears  as  if  it  had  been  pressed  on  by  a  blunted  point,  the 
under  surface  being  raised  as  in  books  printed  for  the  blind.  If 
the  contact  of  the  pen  be  continued  instead  of  making  a  dot,  it 
produces  a  short  or  a  long  line,  according  to  the  time  of  contact. 
The  following  is  a  specimen  : — 


T    h 


E    1    e    c 
T     e  T 


t    r    o     M    a 


••    ••  • 


g     n   e    t    1   c 


g     r 


p     h. 


In  the  latest  improvements  of  the  telegraph  in  England,  the 
magnetic  force  has  been  so  multiplied  by  means  of  several  thou- 
«and  coils  of  wire,  that  they  can  send  it  direct,  so  as  to  move  the 


Chap   XIII.] 


SCHOOLS  IN  NEW  YORK. 


187 


needle  at  great  distances  without  the  aid  of  local  batteries  The 
use,  however,  of  this  instrument  has  been  comparatively  small  in 
Ureat  Britain,  the  cost  of  messages  being  four  times  as  great  as 
m  the  United  States.  ^ 

The  population  of  the  State  of  New  York  amounts,  in   the 
present  year  (1845)  to  2,604,495  souls.      Of  this  number   as 
we  learn  by  the  report  of  the  government  inspector  of  schools,  no 
less  than  807,200  children,  forming  almost  one-third  of  the  in- 
habitants,  have  received  the  benefit  of  instruction  either  for  the 
whole  or  part  of  the  year.     Of  these,  31,240  attended  private 
schools,  and  742,433  the  common  or  public  schools  of  the  state 
We  are  also  mformed  in  the  same  official  document,  tl.  t  the 
number  of  public  schools  is  now  1 1,003.      The  whole  amount 
oi  nioney  received  by  the  school  trustees  during  the  year  for 
teachers  wages,  and  district  libraries,  was    1,191  697  dollars 
equal  to  about  250,000/.      This  sum  has  been  raised  chiefly  bv 
rates,  and  al?out  one-third  of  it  from  the  revenue  of  the  school 
iund,  which  produces  a  yearly  income  of  375,387  dollars      The 
teachers   in   the   common  schools,  both   male   and   female,   are 
boarded  at  the  public  expense,  and,  in  addition  to  their  board 
receive  the  following  salaries  :--Male  teachers,  during  the  winter 
term.  14  dollars.  16  cents;   and  during  the  summer  term    15 
dollars,  77  cents  per  month,  equal  to  about  50/.  a  year.     Female 
teachers,  /  dollars,  37  cents  in  the  winter  term,  and  6  dollars 
2  cents  in  the  summer  term.     In  some  counties,  however   the 
average  is  stated  to  be  as  high  as  20.  or  even  26   dollars'  per 
month  for  the  male  teachers,  and  from  9  to  1 1  for  the  female 
There  are  also  district  libraries  in  connection  with  most  cf  the 
schools. 

All  these  11,000  schools  have  been  organized  on  what  has 
been  styled  in  England,  even  by  respectable  members  in  the 
House  of  Commons,  the  infidel  or  godless  plan,  which  generally 
means  nothing  more  than  that  they  are  not  under  the  manao-e- 
ment  of  the  clergy.  The  Roman  Catholic  bishops  and  priests 
crmmand  a  vast  number  of  votes  at  the  elections  in  New  York 
yet  they  failed,  in  1842,  to  get  into  their  exclusive  control  that 
part  of  the  public  school  money  which  might  fairly  be  considered 


188 


SECULAR  EDUCATION. 


[CHAr.  XIIL 


as  applicable  to  the  teaching  of  children  of  their  own  denomina- 
tion. Their  eflbrts,  however,  though  fortunately  defeated,  were 
attended  by  some  beneficial  results.  It  is  obviously  the  duty  of 
every  government  which  establishes  a  national  py^em  of  secular 
education,  to  see  that  no  books  are  used  in  the  schools,  containing 
sectarian  views,  or  in  which  the  peculiar  opinions  of  any  sect 
are  treated  with  marked  contempt.  The  Catholics  complained 
that  some  of  the  works  put  into  the  hands  of  children,  especially 
those  relating  to  English  history,  were  written  with  a  strong 
Protestant  bias,  and  that,  while  the  superstitions  of  popery  and 
the  bigotry  of  Bloody  Mary  were  pointedly  dwelt  upon,  the  per- 
secutions endured  by  Romanists  at  the  hands  of  Protestant  rulers 
were  overlooked,  or  slightly  glanced  at.  The  expunging  of  such 
passages,  both  in  the  State  of  New  York  and  in  New  England, 
must  have  a  wholesome  tendency  to  lessen  sectarian  bitterness, 
which,  if  imbibed  at  an  early  age,  is  so  difficult  to  eradicate ; 
and  children  thus  educated  will  grow  up  less  pr^udiced,  and 
more  truly  Christian  in  spirit,  than,  if  the  Romish  or  any  other 
clergy  had  been  permitted  to  obtain  the  sole  and  separate  train- 
ing of  their  minds. 

I  have  often  mentioned  the  absence  of  smoke  as  a  striking  and 
enviable  peculiarity  of  the  Atlantic  cities.  For  my  own  part,  I 
never  found  the  heat  of  a  well-managed  stove  oppressive,  when 
vessels  of  water  were  placed  over  it  for  moistening  the  aii  by 
free  evaporation ;  and  the  anthracite  coal  burns  brightly  in  open 
grates.  Even  in  a  moral  point  of  view,  I  regard  freedom  from 
smoke  as  a  positive  national  gain,  for  it  causes  the  vicher  and 
more  educated  inhabitants  to  reside  in  cities  by  the  side  of  their 
poorer  neighbors  during  a  larger  part  of  the  year,  which  they 
would  not  do  if  the  air  and  the  houses  were  as  much  soiled  by 
smoke  and  soot  as  Manchester,  Birmingham,  Leeds,  or  Sheffield. 
Here  the  dress  and  furniture  last  longer  and  look  less  dingy, 
flowers  and  shrubs  can  be  cultivated  in  town  gardens,  and  all 
who  can  aiTord  to  move  are  not  driven  into  the  country  or  some 
distant  suburb.  The  formation  of  libraries  and  scientific  and 
literary  institutions,  museums,  and  lectures,  and  the  daily  inter- 
course between  the  different  orders  of  society — in  a  word,  all 


Chap.  XIII.] 


IRISH  VOTERS. 


18?) 


that  can  advance  and  refine  the  mind  and  taste  of  a  great  popu- 
lation, are  facilitated  by  this  contact  of  the  rich  and  poor.  In 
addition,  therefore,  to  the  importance  given  to  the  middle  and 
hv  OT  classes  by  the  political  institutions  of  America,  I  can  not 
but  think  it  was  a  fortunate  geological  arrangement  for  the  civil- 
izatiou  of  the  cities  first  founded  on  this  continent,  that  the  an- 
thracitic  coal-fields  were  all  placed  on  the  eastern  side  of  the 
Alleghany  mo  tains,  and  all  the  bituminous  coal-fields  on  their 
western  side. 

One  day,  when  we  were  dining  at  the  great  table  of  the  Carl- 
ton  Hotel,  one  of  the  largest  and  most  fashionable  establishments 
of  the  kind  in  New  York,  wo  were  informed  by  an  American 
friend,  that  n  young  man  nn^  woman  sitting  opposite  to  us  were 
well  known  to  him  as  A\ork-people  from  a  factory  near  Boston. 
They  scarcely  -poke  a  word,  but  were  conforming  carefully  to 
the  conventional    manners  of  those  around  them. 

Before  we  left  New  York,  we  witnessed  an  unforeseen  effect  of 
the  abundance  of  waste  water  recently  poured  into  the  city  through 
the  new  Croton  aqueduct.  In  the  lower  streets  near  the  river 
the  water  in  the  open  gutters  had  frozen  in  the  course  of  the 
night,  and,  next  morning,  the  usual  channels  being  blocked  up 
with  ice,  a  stream  poured  down  the  middle  of  the  street,  and  was 
in  its  turn  frozen  there,  so  that  when  I  returned  one  night  from 
a  party,  I  wished  I  had  been  provided  with  skates,  so  continuou«» 
was  the  sheet  of  ice.  Then  came  a  thaw,  and  the  water  of  the 
melted  ice  poured  into  the  lower  stories  of  many  houses.  The 
authorities  are  taking  active  measures  to  provide  in  future  against 
the  recurrence  of  this  evil, 

I  suggested  to  one  of  my  friends  here  that  they  had  omitted, 
among  their  numerous  improvements,  to  exclude  the  pigs  from 
the  streets.  "  It  is  not  possible,"  said  he,  "  for  they  all  have 
votes  ;  I  mean  tht  i-  Irish  owners  have,  and  they  turn  the  scale 
in  the  elections  for  mayor  and  other  city  officers.  If  we  must 
have  a  war,"  he  added,  "  about  Oregon,  it  will  at  least  be  at- 
tended with  one  blessing — the  stopping  of  this  incessant  influx 
of  hordes  of  ignorant  adventurers,  who  pour  in  and  bear  down 
our  native  population.     Whether  they  call  themselves  '  the  true 


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NATIVISM. 


[Chap.  XIII. 


sons  of  Erin,'  or  the  '  noble  sons  of  Germany,'  they  are  the  dupes 
and  tools  of  our  demagogues."  He  then  told  me  that  in  the  last 
presidential  election  he  had  been  an  inspector,  and  had  rejected 
many  fraudulent  votes  of  newly  arrived  emigrants,  brought  to  the 
poll  without  letters  of  naturalization,  and  he  had  no  doubt  that 
some  other  inspectors  had  been  less  scrupulous  when  the  voters 
were  of  their  own  poHtical  party.  "  Buc  for  the  foreign  vote," 
he  affirmed,  "  Clay  would  have  been  elected."  -"  Have  yoa  then 
joined  the  native  American  party  ?"  "  No  ;  because,  by  sepa- 
rating from  the  Whigs,  they  have  weakened  the  good  cause,  and 
nativism  being  chiefly  anti-Irish,  too  often  degenerates  into  relig- 
ious bigotry,  or  into  a  mere  anti-popery  faction." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

New  York  to  Philadelphia.-Scenery  in  New  Jersey.-War  about  Ore.ro„ 
-Protectionist  Theories—Income  Tax  and  Repudiation.-Recrimlnr 
CnTZVi^^n'  ^,^^-"<^--r--I"sh. Quarter  and  fraTdXt' 
ro«  V  ^,f*''"gto?;— Congress  and  Annexation  of  Texas.— General 
Ca.,9  for  War.-Wuithrop  for  Arbitration—Inflated  Eloquence -Su 
preme  Comt-Slavery  in  District  of  Columbia-Museun^Tcolction  of' 
Corals-Sculpture  from  Palenque -Conversations  with  Mr  Foxli 
St^^m  Washmgton  not  favorable  to  a  just  Estimate  of  the  United 
States— False  Position  of  Foreign  Diplomatists. 

Bee.  9.  1845.~Left  New  York  for  Philadelphia  by  railway 
When  crossmg  the  ferry  to  New  Jersey,  saw  Long  Island  and 
btaten  Island  covered  with  snow.  Between  New  York  and  New 
ark,  New  Jersey,  there  is  a  deep  cutting  through  a  basaltic  or 
greenstone  rock,  a  continuation  of  the  mass  which  forms  the 
columnar  precipices,  called  the  Palisades,  on  the  Hudson  river 
above  New  York.  From  the  jagged  face  of  the  cliffs  in  this  cut^ 
tmg  were  hanging  some  of  the  largest  icicles  I  ever  beheld  re- 
minding  me  of  huge  stalactites  pendent  from  the  roofs  of  limestone 
caverns  in  Europe. 

In  New  Jersey  we  passed  over  a  gently  undulating  surface  of 
country,  formed  of  red  marl  and  sandstone,  resembling  in  appear- 
ance,  and  of  about  the  same  geological  age,  as  the  new  red  sand- 
stone    trias)  of  England.     The  soil  in  the  fields  is  of  a  similar 
red  color,  and  aU  signs  of  recent  clearings,  such  as  the  stumps  of 
trees,  have  nearly  disappeared.     The  copses,  formed  of  a  second 
growth  of  wood,  and  the  style  of  the  fences  round  the  fields,  gave 
an  Enghsh  aspect  to  the  country.     We  went  by  Newark,  Eliza- 
bethtown,  Princeton,  Trenton.  Bordentown,  and  Burlington      In 
some  of  these  places,  as  at  Elizabethtown,  houses  and  churches 
have  grown  up  round  the  railway;  and  we  passed  through  the 
middle  of  Burhngton.  a  great  source  of  convenience  to  the  natives 
and  ot  amusement  to  the  passengers,  but  implying  a  slow  rate  of 
tx-aveling      Hereafter,  to  enable  express  trains  to  go  at  full  speed 
irom  north  to  south,  there  must  be  branch  lines  outside  the  towns 


192 


WAR  ABOUT  OREGON. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


As  we  pctssed  Burlington,  a  fellow  passenger  told  us  that  in  an 
Episcopalian  college  established  there,  called  St.  Mary's  HaU,  were 
a  hundred  young  girls,  whom  he  called  '« the  holy  innocents,"  as- 
sembled from  every  part  of  the  Union.  Eighteen  of  them  had. 
in  September  last,  taken  their  degrees  in  arts,  receiving,  from  the 
handle  of  the  Bishop  of  New  Jersey,  diplomas,  headed  by  an  en- 
graving of  the  Holy  Virgin  and  Child,  and  issued  "  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost."  The  session  had  ended 
with  the  ceremony  of  laying  and  consecrating  the  corner-stone  of 
"  the  chapel  of  the  Holy  Innocents  for  the  use  of  the  scholars  of 
St.  Mary's  Hall." 

Whether  we  took  up  a  newspaper,  or  listened  to  conversation 
in  the  cars,  we  found  that  the  Oregon  question,  and  a  ruptiire 
with  England,  were  the  all-engrossing  topic  of  political  specula- 
tion. The  democratic  party  are  evidently  intoxicated  with  their 
success  in  having  achieved  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and  are  bent 
on  future  schemes  of  territorial  aggrandizement.  Some  talk  of 
gaining  the  whole  of  Oregon,  others  all  Mexico.  I  heard  one 
fellow-traveler  say  modestly,  "  We  are  going  on  too  fast ;  but 
Mexico  must  in  time  be  ours."  On  arriving  at  Philadelphia,  I 
found  some  of  the  daily  journals  written  in  a  tone  well-fitted  to 
create  a  war-panic,  counting  on  the  aid  of  France  in  the  event 
of  a  struggle  with  Great  Britain  ;  boasting  that  if  all  the  eastern 
cities  were  laid  in  ashes  by  an  English  fleet,  they  would  rebuild 
them  in  five  years,  and  extinguish  all  the  debts  caused  by  the 
war  in  thirty  years  ;  whereas  England,  borrowing  as  in  the  last 
wav  many  hundred  millions  sterling,  must  become  bankrupt  or 
permanently  crippled  with  taxation.  I  asked  an  acquaintance, 
whether  the  editor  of  such  articles  secretly  wished  for  war,  or 
wanted  to  frighten  his  readers  into  a  pacific  policy.  «'  He  has 
lately  gone  over,"  said  he,  «'  to  the  protectionist  party.  Having 
made  large  purchases  of  shares  in  an  iron  company,  and  fearing 
that,  should  peace  continue,  the  free-traders  would  lower  the 
tariff,  he  patriotically  hopes  for  a  war  with  England  to  enable 
him  to  make  a  fortune.  He  is  one  of  those  philanthropic  monop- 
olists who  would  have  joined  in  a  toast  given  some  years  ago  at 
X  public  dinner  by  one  of  our  merchants,  '  May  the  wants  of  all 


Chap.  XIV] 


;•*^   - 


INCOME  TAX. 


193 


)  M 


nation,  mcrease,  and  may  they  be  supplied  by  Pennsylvania  '" 
But  will  his  war  dreams  be  realized,  think  you  ?"  <' Probablv 
not;  yet  the  mere  anticipation  of  such  a  contingency  is  S 
mischief,  checking  commercial  enterprise,  causing  L  sL  boTdf 
to  laJ  in  value,  and  awakening  evil  passions.  You  will  scarcdv 
believe  that  I  have  heard  men  of  respactaole  standing  in  the  wo  d 
declare,  that  if  a  war  breaks  out.  we  shall  at  leaft  be  abT  o 
sponge  out  our  state  debt !" 

I  found  that  the  income  tax  laid  on  to  pay  the  interest  of  this 
debt  IS  weighing  heavily  on  Pennsylvania,  and  many  a  c  tizen  L 
casting  a  wistful  glance  across  the  Delaware,  at  'the  traxed 
fields  and  mansions  of  New  Jersey.     Some  manage  to  evade  half 
the,r  burdens  by  taking  houses  in  that  st«fc,  and  resortW  L  the 
witer  season  to  Philadelphia  for  the  sakelsociety      One  of  he 
Philadelphians  assured  me,  that  he  and  others  paid  sixtee.  per 
cent  on  their  income  for  state  taxes  ;  and  after  honestly  r.^poL- 
ing  to  all  the  inquisitorial  demands  of  the  collectors,  they  had  the 
mortification  of  thinking  that  men  who  are  less  conLfenti  u 

c  t7Ld  I       r?"'     "  ''^P^*^^'"  ^^  '^'>  "  -  deserting   hi 
city.^and  some  thriving  store-keepers,  whom  you  knew  here  in 

1842.  have  transferred  their  business  to  New  York.     In  vour 
Travels  "J  An^erica,'  you  were  far  too  indulgent  to  the  Penn 
sylvanian  Whigs.  who  promoted  the  outlay  of  government  monev 
on  public  works  which  has  been  our  ruin.     The  Tall  ^ 
man  farmers  and  democrats  opposed  that  expenditure ;  and  it  is 
no    German  ignorance,  as  some  Whigs  pretend,  which  has  en 
tailed  debt  and  disgrace  on  this  state,  but  the  ;xtravagance  ^^ 
the  mfluential  merchants,  who  were  chiefly  Whigs.     You  ne%  bv 
the  papers  that  the  county  of  Lancaster,  is  50.000  dollars  in  ar^ 
rear  m  the  payment  of  state  taxes,  and  the  punishment  inflicteS 
by  government  is  to  withhold  the  school-money  from  th^  de- 
fauters  thereby  prolonging  tho  evil,  if  it  be  ignorance  which  has 
dulled  their  moral  sense." 

th7^  ^«!"«t^^««  t°/esort  to  coercive  measures,  on  the  part  of 
the  men  m  power,  for  fear  of  endangering  their  popularitv   is 

and  addressed  by  the  state  treasurer  to  counties,  some  of  wS 


' 


194 


BRITISH  AGGRANDIZEMENT. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


are  three  years  in  arrear.  He  praises  others  for  their  cheerful 
promptness  in  bearing  their  fair  share  of  the  public  liabilities, 
and  exhorts  the  rest  to  follow  their  good  example,  for  the  honor 
and  credit  of  the  Commonwealth.  The  necessity  of  compulsory 
measures  is  gently  hinted  at  as  a  possible  coiitingency,  should 
they  continue  to  be  defaulters.  As  a  proof,  however,  that  more 
cogent  methods  of  persuasion  are  sometimes  resorted  to,  I  see 
advertisements  of  the  sale  of  city  property  for  the  discharge  of 
taxes ;  and  it  is  fair  to  presume,  that  patriotic  exhortations  have 
not  always  been  without  effect,  or  they  would  be  thought  too 
ridiculous  to  be  employed. 

I  observed  to  a  friend,  that  when  I  left  the  New  Englanders, 
they  were  decidedly  averse  to  war  about  Oregon.  "  Yes,"  he 
rejoined,  "  but  ihey  are  equally  against  free  trade ;  whereas,  the 
people  in  the  West,  who  are  talking  so  big  about  fighting  for 
Oregon,  are  in  favor  of  a  low  tariff  and  more  trade  with  En- 
gland, which  would  make  war  impossible.  Which  of  these  two, 
think  you,  is  practically  the  peace  party  ?" 

In  the  leading  articles  of  several  of  the  papers,  I  read  some 
spirited  recriminations  in  answer  to  English  censures  on  the 
annexation  of  Texas.  Its  independence,  they  say,  had  been 
acknowledged  by  Great  Britain,  and  its  inhabitants  had  volun- 
tarily joined  the  Union.  Some  journals  talk  of  following  "  the 
classical  example  of  the  mother-country,"  and  allude  to  the  con- 
quest of  Sinde,  and  the  intended  "  annexation  of  Borneo."  A 
passage  is  also  cited  from  a  recent  article  in  one  of  the  leading 
London  journals,  to  the  following  effect : — "  That  as  the  Punjab 
must  eventually  be  ours,  the  sooner  we  take  possession  of  it  the 
better,  and  the  less  blood  and  treasure  will  be  spent  in  saving 
from  anarchy  the  richest  part  of  India."  But  it  is  easier  thus  to 
recriminate  than  to  reply  to  the  admirable  protest  published  in 
the  beginning  of  the  present  year  (January,  1845),  by  a  con- 
vention of  delegates  from  various  and  opposite  political  parties  in 
Massachusetts  which  set  forth,  in  strong  terms,  the  unjustifiable 
manner  in  which  Texas  was  originally  filched  from  Mexico,  and 
the  tendency  of  such  annexation  to  extend  and  uphold  slavery, 
and  *'  probably  to  lead  to  a  Mexican  war." 


Chap.  XIV.] 


FRAUDULENT  VOTES. 


199 


During  our  stay  in  Philadelphia,  we  heard  much  rpcrr.t  . 
pressed  at  the  establishment  of  what  is  cTlled   w/ ^    t    t 
quarter,  entailing,  for  the  first  time,  1  nee  ^  o^^^^^^^^^^ 
a  more  expensive  police.      In  the  riots  of  May  6      84?  man v 

10  resist  what  they  call  "  the  papal  ffarrison  "  ai+k^.  u  / 
.eotarian  feeling.  ™i.ed  withVe  pf^C  of  f e  Ivtt 
been  betrayed  against  the  Irish  Romanists,  I  Jd  U  TZtZ 
not  to  sy™path,za  w,th  the  indignation  eherished  here  kTard 
to  the  mterferenee  of  aliens  with  the  eleetions,  and  the  dS 
whieh  threatens  the  liberties  of  the  country  from  fraudule„3 

Z    ^    :"T'^'  \'"'''"""'  °f  fi^«  y«™  ™>  requ'ed  to  eol; 

oeg  n  to  eonnt  tiU  after  a  regular  notifieation  of  his  intention  to 
settle  and  acqmre  the  rights  of  eitizenship,  accompanied  bvfo" 
swear,„g  h,s  allegiance  to  any  other  sovereignty.     K  federahst; 
.mprndently  extended  the  term  to  sixteen  yLs  in  the  pres  den 
sh,p  of  John  Adams,  which  exefudea  more  than  Lf  of  ^e  ptt 
lafon  in  some  newly  peopled  districts.     The  original  term  „f  five 
years  after  registration  was  again  restored  in  Jcle  Iwerite 
»h.p,  and  conttnued  till  the  contest  between  John  Quineridams 
and  Jackson,  when  Mr.  Buchanan  carried  his  proSn  thl 
nstead  of  registration,  two  witnesses  might  depose  oHa  I  that 
the  candidate  for  naturalization  had  resided  five  vea«      Thl 

EanThavrV^  '»  -oh  fraud  and  pei^ury  InTcaseTt 
ttagrant  have  occurred,  that  judges  have  been  cashiered  for  con- 
niving  at  them.  The  same  rules,  however,  are  not  WndTng  f,^ 
all  state  elections,  for  in  Virginia,  at  present,  the  right  of  c  tLn" 
ship  demands  a  residence  of  seven  years,  while  in  £ln  new 
comers  can  vote  two  years  after  their  arrival 

How  many  of  the  stories  related  of  fraudulent  voting  mav  be 
true   I  can  not  pretend  to  decide;  but  I  was  amused  aTTheir 
number  and  var  ety.     It  came  out   T  »m  t„lj    •        -j 
iate  tr-i.l  th-t         ■  »  1    f ,  '  ""''  '"  evidence  on  a 

tote  trial,  that  convicts  had  been  carried  to  the  poll  at  New  York 
and  then  taken  back  to  prison  ;  and  that  the  dexte  i^Tf  ft„t 
wh    manage  th,  Irish  vote  often  consists  in  making  Paddv  M™™ 
that  he  ,s  really  entitled  to  the  franchise.     One  of  the'se  d„p« 


HOUSE  OF  REPRESENTATIVES. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


having  voted  several  times  over  for  one  candidate,  was  at  length 
objected  to,  and  observed  with  naivete,  "  that  it  was  hard  that 
his  vote  should  at  last  be  challenged,  when  so  many  inspectors 
had  taken  it  before  that  same  day."  An  emigrant  ship  arrived 
at  Newcastle,  on  the  Delaware,  in  the  heat  of  an  election  for 
governor  ;  the  Irish  emigrants  were  asked  if  they  would  support 
the  democratic  candidate.  "  We  are  all  for  the  opposition,"  they 
replied ;  and  the  ingenuity  of  the  canvasser  was  taxed  to  make 
them  comprehend  that  the  Ins  in  America,  corresponded  in  t^  jir 
politics  with  the  Outs  in  Great  Britain. 

Such  anecdot3S  prove  indisputably  that  the  purity  of  the  elec 
tions  is  at  least  impeached,  and  it  must  also  be  borne  in  mind  that 
the  system  of  ballot  precludes  all  scrutiny  after  the  election  is  over. 

Dec.  13.  Washington. — Went  into  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives ;  the  front  seats,  in  the  gallery  are  reserved  for  ladies.  We 
found  the  member  for  Connecticut,  Mr.  Rockwell,  on  his  legs, 
delivering  what  seemed  to  me  an  admirable  speech  against  the 
annexation  of  Texas,  especially  that  part  of  its  new  constitution 
which  prohibited  the  legislature  from  taking  steps  toward  the 
future  abolition  of  slavery.  Some  of  the  representatives  were 
talking,  others  writing,  none  listening.  The  question  was  evi- 
dently treated  as  one  gone  by — mere  matter  of  history,  which  the 
course  of  events  had  consigned  to  the  vault  of  all  the  Capulets. 
Nevertheless,  a  feeling  of  irritation  and  deep  disgust  is  pervading 
the  minds  of  the  anti-slavery  party  at  this  sudden  accession  of 
new  territory,  open  to  a  slave  population.  A  powerful  reaction 
has  begun  to  display  itself,  so  that  the  incorporation  of  Texas 
into  the  Union  may  eventually  be  attended  with  consequences 
most  favorable  to  the  good  cause,  rousing  the  whole  north  to 
make  a  stand  against  the  future  extension  of  slavery.  Mr. 
Winthrop  has  hailed  this  more  hopeful  prospect  in  the  happiest 
strain  of  eloquence,  addressing  "  the  lone  star  of  Texas,"  as  it 
was  called,  in  the  words  of  Milton  ; — 

'•  Fairest  of  stars,  last  in  the  train  of  night, 
If  rather  thou  belong'st  not  to  the  dawn." 

Crossing  the  Rotunda,  we  passed  into  the  Senate,  and  heard 
General  Cass,  of  Michigan,  delivering  a  set  speech  on  the  Oregon 


Chap.  XIV.] 


ARBITRATION. 


197 


as  it 


question.  The  recent  aequisiti™  of  Texas,  which  we  had  heard 
condemned  m  the  other  honse  a,  a  foul  blot  on  their  nati^l 
pehey,  was  boasted  of  by  him  a,  »  glorious  triumph  of  mZ 

fndT/  i  milhons  of  subjects,  spoke  of  her  art^pance 

t^iM^t.'"'"i'7  "'  "  ^"'  'f  ♦••e/wishcd  to  mXta  : 

•Xt  R  l'"*"  ■^'■^  "r"'"''  °''^''  '"""^diate  armament. 
Great  Britam,"  ho  said,  "  might  be  willing  to  submit  the 
Oregon  question  to  arbitration,  but  the  crowned  heads,  wh^m  she 
would  propose  as  arbiters,  would  not  be  impartial,  for  hey  wol 
cherish  anu-republican  feelings."  I  thought  the  2^07  tS 
oration  better  than  its  spirit,  and  it  was  listened  tolrith  atten 
tion  ;  but  m  sp.te  of  the  stirring  nature  of  the  theme  Tone  of  the 
senators  betrayed  any  emotion. 

When  he  sat  down,  others  followed,  some  of  whom  read  ex- 

and  Lord  John  Russell  on  the  Oregon  affair,  commenting  freely 

m  the   one  of  the  British  Government,  nor  in  the  nature  of  their 
demands,  which  closed  the  door  against  an  amicable  alstaeu 
I  came  away  from  this  debate  much  struck  with  the  "S 

be  tn  ..  " '  *"  *•!«  f'^-""™  "d  its  functionaries  seem  ,„ 
he  doing  their  worst  to  inflame  popular  passions,  while  the  lis" 

IS;  It  ''^  ""r""'  '"»=«»•  ■'  '""Paratively  eata.  and 
exh  bits  that  sense  of  a  dangerous  responsibility.  wUch  a  w^N 
dent  and  his  cabinet  might  rather  have  been  expected  to  disp  ly 

Mr.  Wmthrop  soon  afterward  moved  in  the  House  of  Represent 

tlZ  *  /'•  ''">•  "  '^'"'*  "''"'='*'»"  does  not  frrrUy 
mvohre  a  reference  to  crowned  heads;  and  if  a  jealousy  of  such 
a  reference  IS  ontcrtamed  in  any  quarter,  a  commission  of  able 
and  dispassionate  citizens,  either  from  the  two  countries  con! 
cerned,  or  from  the  world  at  large,  oflks  itself  as  an  oWous  and 
unobjectionable  alternative."  ouvions  ana 

A  similar  proposition  emanated  simultaneously,  and  without 
covert,  from  the  EngUsh   Cabinet,   showing  th;t  they  we 
regardless  of  precedents,  and  relied  on  the  justice  of  their  ca«s»   • 


198 


RECRIMINATION. 


[Chap.  XIV. 


Although  It  was  declined,  the  mere  fact  of  a  great  nation  having 
waived  uU  punctilious  etiquette,  and  offered  to  settle  a  point  at 
issue  by  referring  the  question  to  private  citizens  of  high  charac- 
ter  and  learned  in  international  law,  proves  that  the  world  is 
advancing  in  civilization,  and  that  higher  principles  of  morality 
are  beginning  to  gain  ground  in  the  intercourse  between  nations 
"  All  who  ought  to  govern,"  said  a  member  of  Congress  to  me 
"are  of  one  mind  as  to  Lord  Aberdeen's  overture;  but  they  who 
do  govern  hero,  will  never  submit  to  arbitration." 

The  Senate  consists  at  present  of  fifty-nine  members,  and  will 
soon  be  augmented  by  two  from  Texas  and  two  from  Iowa,  the 
Union  consisting  now  of  twenty-seven  states,  with  a  population 
of  about  twenty  millions. 

Ihe  appearance  of  the  members  of  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives IS  gentlemanlike,  although  I  doubt  not  that  the  scenes  of 
violence  and  want  of  decorum  described  by  many  travelers,  are 
correct  pictures  of  what  they  witnessed.      In  this  nation  of  read- 
ers they  are  so  sensitive  to  foreign  criticism,  that  amendment  may 
be  confidently  looked  for.     At  this  moment,  the  papers,  by  way 
of  retaliation,  are  amusing  their  readers  with  extracts  from  a 
debate  in  the  Canada  House  of  Assembly.      The  followin*^  may 
serve  as  an  example  :_"Our  Canadian  friends  occasionally  read 
us  a  lecture  on- courtesy  and  order,  we  therefore  cite  from  a  report 
of  their  legislative  proceedings,  what  we  presume  they  intend  as 
a  model  for  our  imitation.      Mr.  De  B.  appealed  to  the  chair  to 
stop  the  member  for  Quebec,  and  threatened  if  he  was  not  called 
to  order,  that  he  must  go  over  and  pull  his  nose ;  at  which  Mr. 
A.  rejoined,  '  Come  and  do  it,  you  scoundrel !'  "     Another  exam- 
ple of  recrimination  that  I  have  lately  seen,  consisted  in  placin-r 
in  two  parallel  columns,  first  an  extract  from  the  leading  articll 
of  the  London  Times,  rating  the  Americans  in  good  set  terms 
for  their  rudeness  to  each  other  in  debate,  and  coarse  abuse  of 
England  ;  and,  secondly,  an  account  given  by  the  same  journal 
of  a  disorderly  discussion  in  the  House  of  Commons  on  an  Irish 
question,  in  which,  among  other  incidents,  a  youno-  member  of 
the  aristocracy  (intoxicated  let  us  hope)  rose  in  the°midst  of  the 
hubbub,  and  imitated  the  crowing  of  a  cock. 


Chap.  XIV.] 


INFLATED  ELOQUENCE. 


109 


A  member  of  Con-ress.  who  frequented,  ^hen  in  London,  the 
gallery  of  the  House  of  Commons,  tells  me  he  was  struck  with 
what  seemed  an  affectation  of  rusticity,  members  lolling  in  loun-. 
uig  attitudes  on  tlie  benches  with  their  hats  on,  speaking  witT, 
their  hands  thrust  into  their  breeches  pockets,  and  other  acts,  as 
.  in  defiance  of  restraint.  The  English  method  of  coughing 
down  a  troublesome  member  is  often  alluded  to  here,  and  has  on 
one  occasion,  been  gravely  recommended  for  adoption,  as  a  par- 
liamentary  usage  which  might  advantageously  be  imitated,  rather 
than  the  limitation  of  each  speaker  to  one  hour,  a  rule  now  in 
force,  which  has  too  often  the  effect  of  making  each  orator  think 
It  due  to  himself  to  occupy  the  house  for  his  full  term. 

It  would  be  impossible  to  burlesque  or  caricature  the  ambitious 
style  d  certain  members  of  Congress,  especially  some  who  have 
risen  from  humble  stations,  and  whose  schooling  has  been  in  the 
back-woods.  A  grave  report,  drawn  up  in  the  present  session 
by  a  member  for  Illinois,  as  chairman  of  the  Post-oflFice  Commit- 
tee,  may  serve  as  an  example.  After  speaking  of  the  American 
republic  as  « the  infant  Hercules."  and  the  extension  of  their 
imperial  domimon  over  the  "northern  continent  and  oriental 
seas,  he  exclaims.  "  the  destiny  of  our  nation  has  now  become 
revealed,  and  great  events,  quickening  in  the  womb  of  time 
reflect  their  clearly-defined  shadows  into  our  very  eye- balls. 

"  Oh,  why  does  a  cold  generation  frigidly  repel  ambrosial  gifts 
like  these,  or  sacrilegiously  hesitate  to  embrace  their  glowing  and 
resplendent  fate  ?  o  & 

"  Must  this  backward  pull  of  the  government  never  cease,  and 
the  nation  tug  forever  beneath  a  dead  weight,  which  trips  its 
heels  at  every  stride  ?" 

From  the  Senate  House  we  went  to  another  part  of  the  Capi- 
tol, to  hear  Mr.  Webster  plead  a  cause  before  the  Judo^es  of  the 
Supreme  Court.  These  judges  wear  black  gowns,  and  are,  I 
believe,  the  only  ones  in  the  United  States  who  have  a  costume. 
The  point  at  issue  was  most  clearly  stated,  namely,  whether  the 
city  of  Ngw  York  had  a  legal  right  to  levy  a  tax  of  one  dollar 
on  every  passenger  entering  that  port,  who  had  never  before 
visited  any  port  of  the  Union.     The  number  of  emigrants  being 


m 


900 


WASHINGTON. 


[Chap.  XIV 


great,  no  less  than  100,000  dollars  had  been  annually  raised  by 
this  impost,  the  money  being  applied  chiefly  as  an  hospital  fund. 
It  was  contended  that  the  Federal  Government  alone  had  the 
nght  of  imposing  duties  on  commerce,  in  which  light  this  passen- 
ger tribute  ought  to  be  viewed.  The  Court,  however,  ruled 
otherwise. 

It  was  pointed  out  to  me,  as  a  remarkable  proof  of  the  ascend- 
ency of  the  democratic  party  in  the  Federal  Government  for 
many  years  past,  that  only  one  of  all  the  judges  now  on  the  bench 
had  been  nominated  by  the  Whigs, 

One  day,  as  we  were  walking  down  Pennsylvania  Avenue 
with  Mr.  Winthrop,  we  mot  a  young  negro  woman,  who  came 
up  to  him  with  a  countenance  full  of  pleasure,  saying  it  was 
several  years  since  she  had  seen  him,  and  greeting  him  with 
such  an  affectionate  warmth  of  expression,  that  I  began  to  con- 
trast  the  stiffness  and  coldness  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  manners  with 
the  genial  flow  of  feeling  of  this  southern  raco.     My  companion 
explained  to  me,  that  she  was  a  very  intelligent  girl,  and  was 
grateful  to  him  for  an  act  of  kindness  he  had  once  had  an  oppor- 
tunity of  showing  her.      I  afterward  learnt,  from  some  other 
friends  to  whom  I  told  this  anecdote,  that,  three  years  before, 
Mr.  Winthrop  and  a  brother  member  of  Congress  from  the  north 
had  been  lodging  in  the  house  of  this  girl's  mistress,  and  hearing 
that  she  was  sentenced  to  be  whipped  for  some  ofl^ense,  had  both 
of  them  protested  they  would  instantly  quit  the  house  if  the  mis- 
tress persevered.     She  had  yielded,  and  at  length  confessed  that 
she  had  been  giving  wa>  to  a  momentary  fit  of  temper. 

Washington  is  situated  in  the  district  of  Columbia,  comprising 
an  area  of  100  square  miles,  borrowed  from  the  neighboring  states 
to  form  an  independent  jurisdioiion  by  itself  Several  attempts 
have  been  made  to  declare  it  free,  but  hitherto  in  vain,  thanks 
to  the  union  of  the  northern  democrats  and  southern  slave-own- 
erS,  aided  by  the  impracticable  schemes  of  the  abolitionists. 

The  view  of  the  city  and  the  river  Potomac  from  the  hill  on 
which  the  Capitol  stands  is  fine;  but,  in  spite  of  sometnew  pub- 
he  edifices  built  in  a  handsome  style  of  Greek  architecture,  we 
are  struck  with  the  small  progress  made  in  three  years  since  we 


Ohap.  XIV.] 


MUSKUM. 


901 


were  last  here  The  vacant  spaces  are  not  filling  up  witK  private 
houses,  aceordmg  to  the  original  plan,  so  that  fhe  would-bo  r^ 

arled.  The  principal  hotels,  however,  have  improved,  and  we 
were  not  annoyed,  as  when  last  here,  by  the  odors  left  in  the 
room  by  the  colored  domestics,  who  had  no  beds,  but     ept  anv 

With  similar  habits,  in  a  hot  chmate,  no  servants  of  anv  race 

whether  free  or  slave,  African  or  European,  would  be  eSrab   ! 

In  the  public  museum  at  the  Patent  Office  I  was  glad  to  see 

a  fine  collection  of  objects  of  natural  history,  brough    he  e  by 

Amon?  l"^r'  ^"^''^'""'  commanded  by  CaptL  Wilkes' 
Among  other  treasures  is  a  splendid  series  of  recent  corals,  a  good 

ed  by  Mr.  Dana,  at  the  expense  of  Government.     These  zoo- 

phytes  are  accompanied  by  masses  of  solid  limestone,  occasionally 

bned?  t\''^'-''y  f--d  in  coral  reefs,  lik;  those  men' 

hZy     ^:^     T'"'  "'  °''""^"°  ^"  *^^  »«»*h  Seas,  some  as 
hard  as  marble,  others  consisting  of  conglomerates  of  pebbles  and 

l^Zr  ''f  .  fr  ''""'''^  °^  '^'  «P^°'"^^"«  I  «^^  th«  imbedded 
zoophytes  and  shells  projecting  from  the  weathered  surface,  as  do 

the  petrifactions  m  many  an  ancient  limestone  where  they  have 

resisted  disintegration  more  than  the  matrix.     Other  fragments 

m  bulk,  brought  from  one  of  the  Sandwich  Islands,  might  have 
been  mistaken  for  a  piece  of  Shakspeare's  Cliff;  near  Dover.     It 
reminded  me  that  an  English  friend,  a  professor  of  political  econ- 
omy  met  me  about  fifteen  years  ago  on  the  beach  at  Dover,  after 
he  had  just  read  my  «« Principles  of  Geology,'"  and  exclaimed. 
Show  me  masses  of  pure  white  rock,  like  the  substance  of 
these  chffs.  m  the  act  of  growing  in  the  ocean  over  areas  as 
large  as  France  or  England,  and  I  will  beheve  all  your  theory 
of  modern  causes."     Since  that  time  we  have  obtained  data  for 
inferring  that  the  growth  of  corals,  and  the  deposition  of  chalk- 
Ike  calcareous  mud.  is  actually  going  on  over  much  wider  areas 
than  the  whole  of  Europe,  so  that  I  am  now  entitled  to  claim 
my  incredulous  friend  as  a  proselyte 

1* 


"  ■'■■  -i- .    ■    ■. 

'■■J'"'     ' 


202 


SCULPTURE  FROM  PALENQUB. 


tCHAP.  XIV. 


In  one  of  the  gb.ss  cases  of  the  Museum  I  saw  the  huge  skull 
of  the  Megatherium,  with  the  remains  of  other  extinct  fossil 
animals  found  in  Georgia — a  splendid  donation  presented  by  Mr. 
Hamilton  Couper.      In  another  part  of  the  room  were  objects  of 
antiquarian  interest,  and  among  the  rest  some  sculptured  stones 
from  the   ruins  of  Palenque,  inscribed  with  the  hieroglyphic  or 
picture-writing  of  the  Aborigines,  with  which  Stephen's  lively 
work  on  Central  America,  and  the  admirable   illustrations   of 
Catherwood,  had  made  us  familiar.     The  camp-chest  of  Genera] 
"Washington,  his  sword,  the  uniform  worn  by  him  when  he  re- 
signed his  'jommi-sion,  and  even  his  stick,  have  been  treasured 
up  as  relies  in  this  national  repository.      If  the  proposition  lately 
ma(?e  in  the  public  journals,  to  purchase  Washington's  country 
residence  and  negro-houses  at  Mount  VeiiKfti,  and  to  keep  thsm 
forever  in  the  state  in  which  he  left  them,  should  be  carried 
into  effect,  it  would  not  only  be  a  fit  act  of  hero-worship,  but  in 
the  course  of  time  this  farm  would  become  a  curious  antiquarian 
monument,  showing  to  after  generations  the  state  of  agriculture 
at  the  period  when  the  aepublic  was  founded,  and  how  the  old 
Virginian  planters  and  their  slaves  hved  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
Before  leaving  Washington  we  called,  with  Mr.  Winthrop,  at 
the  White  House,  the  residence  of  the  President.     A  colored 
S3  cvant  in  livery  came  to  the  door,  and  conducted  ua  to  the  re- 
ception-room,  which  is  well-proportioned  and  well-furnished,  not 
in  sumptuous  stylo,  but  without  any  affectation  of  republican 
plainness.      We  were  politely  received  by  Mrs.   Polk,  her  hus- 
band being  engaged  on  public  business.      I  was  afterward  intro- 
duced to  General  Scott,  to  Captain  Wilkes,  recently  returned 
from  his  expedition  to  the  South  Seas,  to  Mr.  Bancroft,  Secretary 
of  the  Navy,  and  called  on  our  minister,  L'^r.  Pakenham,  and  our 
old  friends,  M.  and  Madame  de  Ge-olt,  the  Prussian  minister  and 
his  wife.      I  also  examined  a  fine  collection  of  fossils  belonging  to 
Mr.  Markoe,  who  has  taken  an  active  part  in  founding  an  insti- 
tution here  for  the  promotion  of  science  and  natural  Jiistory.    The 
day  before  our  departure  I  had  a  bag  and  agreeable  conversation 
with  oii.r  ex-minipter,  Mr.  Fox,  whose  sudden  and  unexpected 
death  happened  a  few  months  later.     I  told  him  that  some  En- 


Chap^  XIV.]        CONVERSATIONS  WITH  MR.  FOX. 


203 


ghsh  travelers  wondered  that  I  should  set  out  on  a  long  tour  when 
^e  Enghsh  and  Amencan  papers  were  descanting  o/the  proba" 

ravnLn\  ^   7^i''^"y  '""^^  "«^'  ^«°««««  ^^  might 

desire  o^heTl    Tr'"'  '^  ''"  "^'^  '^°^^^^«'  '^  '^^^  ^^  '^e 
desire  of  the  Federal  Government  to  save  him  ;  but  now  there 

IS  no  war  party  m  England  and  all  reasonable  men  here.lnlT 

mg  the  prineipal  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  are  aglinst  it. 

Some  of  the  western  people  may  be  warlike,  fo^  there  fre  many 

patru>ts  who  beheve  that  it  is  their  destiny  to  rise  on  the  rui^ 

of  the  Brush  empire ;  but  when   the  President,  according  to 

treaty,  shall  have  given  notice  of  a  partition  of  Oregon,  there  will 

kLcrthfr'^r'""-  J'  °"^  ""'  *"°  ^^^P"*-*'  *^--tens  to 
knock  the  other  down  eighteen  months  hence,  would  you  appre- 
hend immediate  mischief?"     .-They  arc  not  arminj."  said  I 
No  augury  can  be  drawn  from  that  fact."  he  replied  •  "  the 
people  are  against  large  peace  establishments,  knowing  that  there 
is  no  fear  of  hostile  attacks  from  without  unless  they  provoke 
them,  and  satisfied  that  their  wealth  and  population  are  annuallv 
mcreasmg.      They  are  full  of  courage,  and  would  devebp  extraor- 
dinary  resourres  in  a  war,  however  much  they  would  suffer  at 
the  nrst  onset. 

We  then  conversed  freely  on  the  future  prospects  of  civiliza- 
tion  in  the  North  American  continent.     He  had  formed  far  less 
sangume  expectations  than  I  had,  but  confessed,  that  though  he 
had  resided  so  many  years  in  the  country,  he  knew  little  or  noth- 
mg  01  the  northern  states,  especially  of  New  England.      When 
1  dvelt  on  the  progress  I  had  witnessed,  even  in  four  vears,  in 
the  schools  and  educational  institutions,  the  increase  of  readers 
and  ot  good  books,  and  the  preparations  making  for  future  scien- 
tific achievements,  he  frankly  admitted  that  he  had  habitually 
contemplated  the  Union  from  a  somewhat  unfavorable  point  of 
view      T  observed  to  him  that  Washington  was  not  a  metropo- 
lis  like  London,  nor  even  like  Edinburgh  or  Dublin,  but  a  town 
which  had  not  thriven,  in  spite  of  government  patronage.      The 
members  of  Congress  did  not  bring  their  families  to  it,  because  it 
would  often  take  them  away  from  large  '  cities,  where  they  wer« 


204 


FOREIGN  DIPLOMATISTS. 


[Chap.  XIV 


enjoying  more  refined  and  intellectual  society.     It  was  as  if  the 
Legislature  of  the  British  empire,  representing  not  only  England, 
Scotland,  and  Ireland,  but  Canada,  Newfoundland,  the  West 
Indies,  Australia,  the  Cape,  and  all  the  other  dependencies  of  the 
British  crown,  were  to  meet  in  some  third-rate  town.     Nor  even 
then  would  the  comparison  be  a  fair  one,  because  if  there  be  one 
characteristic  more  than  another  which  advantageously  distin- 
guishes three-fourths  of  the  American  population,  it  is  the  high 
social,  intellectual,  and  political  condition,  relatively  speaking,  of 
the  working  classes.     The  foreign  diplomatist  residing  in  Wash- 
ington lives  within  the  borders  of  the  slave  territory,  where  the 
laborers  are  more  degraded,  and  perhaps  less  progressive,  than  in 
any  European  state.     Besides,  the  foreign  embassador,  in  his  offi- 
cial and  political  capacity,  too  often  sees  exposed  the  weak  side 
of  the  constitution  of  the  Union,  and  has  to  deplore  the  power- 
lessness  of  the  federal  executive  to  carry  out  its  own  views,  and 
to  control  the  will  of  thirty  independent  states,  or  as  many  im- 
peria  in  imperio.     Just  when  he  may  have  come  to  an  under- 
standing with  the  leading  statesmen  on  points  of  international 
law,  so  that  his  negotiations  in  any  other  metropolis  Would  have 
been  brought  to  a  successful  issue,  he  finds  that  the  real  difficul- 
ties are  only  beginning.     It  still  remains  to  be  seen  whether  the 
government  is  strong  enough  to  contend  with  the  people,  or  has 
the  will  so  to  act,  or  whether  it  will  court  popularity  by  yielding 
to  their  prejudices,  or  even  exciting  their  passions.     Such  is  at 
this  moment  the  position  of  affairs,  and  of  our  minister  at  Wash- 
ington. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

Washington  to  Richmond— Legislature  of  Virginia  in  Session.-Subsliiu. 
deaWs  #' J°'  Slave  Labor.-Progress  ofVegro  Instruotion.-Skvt 
dealers  -Kmdness.to  Negroes.-Coal  of  Oolitic  Period  near  Richmond^ 
--Visit  to  the  Mines.-Upright  Fossil  Trees.-Deep  Shafts,  and  S: 
Tlfl  Seams.-Explosio„  of  Gas.-Natural  Coke.-Resemblance 
of  the  more  modern  Coal-measures  to  old  Carboniferous  Rocks—Whites 
workmg  with  free  Negroes  in  the  Mines. 

Dec.  16  1845  —From  Washington  we  went  to  Richmond, 
and  were  glad  to  find  that  the  great  southern  line  of  railway  from 
Acquia  Creek  had  been  completed  since  we  were  last  here  bv 
which  we  escaped  twelve  miles  of  jolting  over  a  rough  road,  de- 
scnbed  with  so  much  humor  by  Dickens. 

At  Richmond  T  went  into  the  Supreme  Court  of  Appeal  and 
as  I  entered,  heard  the  counsel  who  was  pleading,  cite  a  recent 
decision  of  the  English  Court  of  Chancery  as  bearing  on  his  case. 
The  Houses  of  Legislature  of  Virginia  were  in  session,  and  I 
heard  part  of  a  debate  on  a  proposed  railway  from  Baltimore  to 
the  valley  of  the  Great  Kanawha,  in  Western  Virginia.     Much 
jealousy  was  expressed  lest  the  metropolis  of  Maryland,  instead 
ot  Richmond,  should  reap  the  chief  fruits  of  this  project,  at  which 
I  was  not  surprised  ;  for  Virginia,  with  a  population  of  1,100  000 
inhabitants,  ha^  no  towns  larger  than  Richmond  and  Norfolk 
Beverly,  and  the  early  writers  on  this  state,  say,  <'that  the  peo- 
pie  were  prevented  from  congregating  in  large  towns  by  the  en- 
joyment  of  an  extensive  system  of  river  navigation,  which  ena- 
bled merchant  ships  to  sail  up  every  where  to  the  warehouses  of 
each  planter  and  receive  their  freight.     Hence  there  was  less 
activity  and  enterprise,  and  a  want  of  the  competition,  which  the 
collected  life  m  cities  promotes."* 

One  of  the  senators,  whom  I  had  met  the  day  before  at  a  din- 
ner party,  conversed  ivith  me  on  the  publication  of  the  geological 
*  See  "Graham's  Histoiy,"  vol.  i.  p.  145. 


111 


206 


VIRGINIA. 


[Chap.  XV. 


maps  and  reports  of  the  State  Survey,  which  have  been  admira- 
bly  executed  under  th.e  direction  of  Professor  W.  B.  Rogers 

The  division  of  legislative  duties  between  a  central  power,  such 
as  I  had  just  seen  ddiberating  at  Washington,  and  the  separate 
and  independent  states,  such  as  that  now  in  simultaneous  action 
here  at  Richmond,  seems  the  only  form  fitted  for  a  widely  ex- 
tended  empire,  if  the  representative  system  is  to  prevail.     The 
present  population  of  the  different  states  may  be  compared,  on  an 
average,  to  that  of  English  counties,  or,  at  least,  to  colonies  of  the 
British  empire.     At  the  same  period  of  the  year,  when  each  is 
managing  its  own  affairs  in  regard  to  internal  improvements- 
schools,  colleges,  police,  railways,  canals,  and  direct  taxes— the 
central  parliament  is  discussing  questions  of  foreign  policy— the 
division  of  Oregon,  the  state  of  the  army  and  navy,  questions  of 
tree  trade,  and  a  high  or  low  tariff: 

By  aid  of  railways,  steamers,  and  the  electric  tele^aph  it 
might  be  possible  to  conduct  all  the  business  of  the  twenty-se'ven 
states  at  Washington,  but  not  with  the  same  efficiency  or  econ- 
oray ;  lor,  m  that  case,  the  attention  of  the  members  of  the  two 
houses  of  Congress  would  be  distracted  by  the  number  and  varietv 
of  subjects  submitted  to  them,  and  the  leading  statesmen  would 
be  crushed  by  the  weight  of  official  and  parhamentary  business. 

While  at  Richmond,  we  saw  some  agreeable  and  refined  so- 
ciety m  the  families  of  the  judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  and 
other  lawyers ;  but  there  is  little  here  of  that  activity  of  mind 
and  feeling  foi   literature  and  science  which  strikes  one  in  the 
best  circles  m  New  England.     Virginia,  however,  seems  to  be 
rousing  herself,  and  preparing  to  make  an  effort  to  enlarge  her 
resources,  by  promoting  schools  and  internal  improvements.    Her 
pride  has  been  hurt   at  seeing  how  rapidly  her  old  political 
ascendency  has  passed  away,  and  how,  with  so  large  and  rich  a 
terntoiy,  she  has  been  outstripped  in  the  race  by  newer  states, 
especially   Ohio.     She  is  unwilling  to  believe  that  her  negro 
population  IS  the  chief  obstacle  to  her  onward  march,  yet  can 
not  shut  her  eyes, to  the  fact  that  the  upper  or  hilly  region  of 
The  Alleghanies,  where  the  whites  predominate,  has  been  ad- 
vanemg  m  a  more  rapid  ratio  than  the  eastern  counties      The 


Chap.  XV.] 


WHITE  AND  SLAVE  LABOR. 


207 


whites  who  live  west  of  the  Blue  Ridge  are  about  equal  in 
number  to  those  who  live  east  of  it ;  but  the  eastern  division,  or 
lower  country,  owns  a  greater  number  of  slaves,  and  in  right  of 
them  has  more  votes.     The  western  men  are  talking  loudly  of 
a  convention  to  place  them  on  a  more  equal  footing,  some  even 
desiring  a  separation  into  two  states.     There  has  also  been  a 
suggestion,  that  it  might  be  well  to  allow  a  single  county  to 
declare  itself  free,  without  wailing  for  the  emancipation  of  others. 
Among  other  signs  of  approaching  change,  I  am  told  that  several 
new  settlers  from  the  north  have  made  a  practical  demonstration 
that  slave  labor  is  less  profitable,  even  east  of  the  Blue  Ridge 
than  that  of  free  whites.     As  we  sailed  down  the  Potomac  from 
Washington,  a  landed  proprietor  of  Fairfax  county  pointed  out 
to  me  some  estates  in  Virginia,  on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  in 
which  free  had  been  substituted  for  slave  labor  since  I  was  here 
m  1841.     Some  farmers  came  from  New  Hampshire  and  Con- 
necticut, and,  having  bought  the  land  at  five  dollars  an  acre, 
tilled  It  with  their  own  hands  and  those  of  their  family,  aided  in 
some  cases  by  a  few  hired  whites.     To  the  astonishment  of  tl:e 
surrounding  planters,  before  the  end  of  four  years,  they  had  raised 
the  value  of  the  soil  from  five  to  forty  dollars  per  acre,  having 
introduced  for  the  first  time  a  rotation  of  corn  and  green  crops, 
instead  of  first  exhausting  the  soil,  and  th-jn  letting  it  lie  fallow 
for  years  to  recover  itself.      They  have  also  escaped  the  ruinous 
expense  of  feeding  large  bodies  of  negroes  in  those  seasons  when 
the  harvest  is  deficient.     They  do  not  pretend  to  indulge  in  that 
hospitaUty  for  which  the  old  Virginians  and  North  Carolinians 
were  celebrated,  who  often  mortgaged  their  estates  to  pay  the 
annual  salary  of  theu  overseer,  till  he  himself  became  the  pro- 
prietor.    The  master,  in  that  case,  usually  migrated  with  part 
of  his  negroes  to  settle  farther  south  or  southwest,  introducing 
into  the  new  states  more  civilized  habits  and  manners  than  would 
have  belonged  to  them  had  they  been  entirely  peopled  by  adven- 
turers from  the  north  or  from  Europe. 

On  Sunday,  December  the  21st,  we  ..  mded  service  in  a 
handsome  new  Episcopal  church,  called  St.  Paul's,  and  heard 
the  rector  announce  to  the  congregation  that  a  decision  had  iust 


L'tlil 


303 


NBGBO  EDDCATION. 


[Cair.  XV 


been  come  to  (by  a  majority  of  all  the  proprietors  of  the  ehureh 
a.  I  was  afterward  informed),  that  one  of  the  ride  galS 
shonld  heneefo.th  be  set  apart  exclnsively  for  people  of  00^ 
This  resolnfon,  he  said,  had  been  taken  L  order  that  theytd 
hev  ho3T  ""ft  »«ite  in  the  worship  of  the  same  God  a. 
T2  ^^       r'°'.  '?"^'  *»Sether  into  his  everlasting  king- 

nThL  7  '"^  ■"'  '"'™-  ^  '""''"*  ''kether  they  wonfd 
not  have  done  more  toward  raising  the  slave,  to  a  footing  of 
esoah^  m  the  house  of  prayer,  if  they  had  opened  the  Iml 
^Uenes  to  negroes  and  whites.  In  reply,  I  was  assured  that, 
m  the  pre^nt  sta  e  of  social  feeling,  the  colored  people  would 
gain  less  by  such  jomt  oecupaney,  because,  from  their  habiW 

p^r^Tw  °  ""*;■■  *''^  ^'■^  ^'''  *"  *- ""  *r^nt 

T  w!^;  ,,u^^-    '"  "y^  P"^'"'*  ;  but  I  am  told  that,  if 

I  went  to  the  Baptist  or  Methodist  churches,  I  should  find    he 

gallencs  ,u,to  fuU.     ThSre  are  several  Sundly  schools  he^for 

negroes  and  .»  rs  a  singular  fact  that,  in  spite  of  the  law  4^" 

^.tructmg  slaves,  many  of  the  whites  have  been  taught  to  r^ad 

by  negro  nurses.     A  large  proportion  of  the  slaves  and  fr^ 

CO  ored  people  here  are  of  mixed  breed.     The  employment  rf 

this  class  a,  in-door  servants  in  cities  arises  partly  from  the  in- 

terest    .ken  m  them  by  their  white  parents,  who  have  ma,^". 

mited  them  and  helped  them  to  rise  in  the  world,  and  ^y 

because  the  rich  prefer  them  as  domestic  servants,  for  thi  ap^ 

pearance   is  more    agreeable,   and   they  are   mor^   intelligent 

share  of  an  European  oiganization  which  they  inherit  in  right 
of  one  of  then:  parents,  or  whether  it  may  be  referred  to  Sr 
early  intereourse  and  contact  with  the  whiL._in  oAer  wt 
to  a  better  cducation,_is  stiU  matter  of  controversy. 

Several  Virginian  planters  have  spoken  to  me  of  the  nemo 

rherr"^?  warm-hearted,  patient,  and  cheellra"! 

lor  benefits,  and  forgiving  of  injuries.     They  are  also  Jf  a  rel  g 

hi Trrf  V""'''™^  °"  ™'«'"'''«>»  Even  those  who 
think  they  ought  forever  to  remain  in  servitude,  give  them  a 
character  which  leads  one  to  the  beUcf  that  step  ought  W 
ago  to  have  been  taken  toward  their  gradual  emandpatZ 


Chap.  XV.] 


NEGRO  SLAVERY, 


203 

Had  some  legislative  provision  been  made  with  this  view  befor« 

hUdrnTor^'I^'^"'  ^  P^^'«^  ^^-^  «-<l  '^ft-  Xh  a^lth 
Children  bom  in  this  state  should   be  free    ihs,f  r.^™  *     V 

would  have  afforded  a  „«f„,  „„.,et  t  ^e'  bu'el  ZV^"^ 

are  now  filled  up  by  the  breedinff  of  nesroes      Tn  +1,.    iT 
of  s^ch  eoactaents,  Te.as  prolong  t^  S^„  otlZtZl 
n  V,rg,ma,  aggravating  one  of  its  worst  consequent    the  7 
ternal  slave  trade  and  keeping  up  ,he  price  of  n^r^;!  home" 

cording  to  their  qualifications.     There  are  always  deal.r.  .. 

mrrtraj'":-,''"'""  ■'  ''  '"  "»»-'  "-sZthelX™ 

^  kl  he/  ;  ?/""^.  "  ™'^y  *°  «"''  «"  «•«  '""th,  they 
are  kept  here  well  fed,  and  as  cheerful  as  possible.  In  a  court 
of  the  jaU,  where  they  are  lodged,  I  see  them  every  day  amS 
themselves  by  playing  at  quoits.     How  much  this  tiSicTJ 

fear  of  Zir"  »       ,"^  '^  °'"°  "™'  *''«y  '»»™  »"  longer  any 
Thlt^r  "'tempting  an  escape,  and  they  then  unshackk  them 
That  the  condition  of  slaves  in  Virginia  is  steadily  improv^" 
^1  here  seem  agreed.     One  of  the  greatest  evUs  of  Z  ZZ    ■ 
«  the  compulsory  separation  of  members  of  the  same  2^ 
Smce  my  arrival  at  .Uichmond,  a  case  has  come  trmy  S' 

Wr  W  *  T"  "'•°  ?°'"'°"^  "  "*  Mvidua    to  purZ; 
bm,  becmse  he  was  going  to  be  sold,  and  was  in  danger  JS. 

I   such      ,  °'^""^'  5^  ^""^  "•"»  °™  '''■"-i"i»g  tvL^^ 
But  such  instances  are  far  less  common  thaa  would  be  imaS' 

ZZ  IJpi:  ^^VT'  °^,^ -"*=™  '"»"-  *--^  t^' 
™ri,«!      •  ^   ^   ^    '^  '"  insolvent  is  brought  to  the  hammer 

Stl""  We  b""r;  ^""'''"  ""'»'=''  =^'™'  *e  pJ^Cof 
kmdred.     We  heard  of  two  recent  cases,  one  in  which  the  ua- 

m  tears,  no  one  would  bid  till  the  dealer  put  the  chUdren  up 


210 


KINDNESS  TO  NEGROES. 


[Chap.  XV. 


alw.     They  then  sold  very  well.     Another,  where  the  dealer 
was  compelled,  in  like  manner,  to  sell  a  father  and  son  to- 
gether.      I  learned  with  pleasure  an  anecdote,  from  undoubted 
authority  very  characteristic  of  the  indulgence  of  owners  of  the 
higher  class  of  society  here  toward  their  slaves.     One  of  the 
judges  of  the  Supreme  Court  at  Richmond,  having  four  or  five 
supernumerary  negroes  in  his  estabhshment,  proposed  to  them  to 
go  to  his  plantation  in  the  country.     As  they  had  acquired  town 
habits,  they  objected,  and  begged  him  instead  to  look  out  for  a 
good  master  who  would  carry  them  to  a  city  farther  south,  where 
they  might  enjoy  a  warm  climate.     The  judge  accordingly  made 
his  arrangements,  and,  for  the  sake  of  securing  the  desired  con- 
ditions,  was  to  receive  for  each  a  price  below  their  market  value. 
J  ust  as  they  were  about  to  leave  Richmond  for  Louisiana,  one 
ot  the  women  turned  faint-hearted,  at  which  all  the  rest  lost 
courage  ;  for  their  local  and  personal  attachments  are  very  strong 
although  they  seem  always  ready  to  migrate  cheerfully  to  any 
part  of  the  world  with  their  owners.      The  affair  ended  in  the 
good-natured  judge  having  to  repurchase  them,  paying  the  dif- 
ference of  price  between  the  sum  agreed  upon  for  each,  and 
what  they  would  have  fetched  at  an  auction. 

Great  sacrifices  are  often  made  from  a  sense  of  duty  by  re- 
tainmg  possession  of  inherited  estates,  which  it  would  be  most 
desirable  to  sell,  and  which  the  owners  can  not  part  with,  because 
they  feel  it  would  be  wrong  to  abandon  the  slaves  to  an  un- 
known  purchaser.     We  became  acquainted  with  the  family  of  a 
widow,  who  had  six  daughters  and  no  son  to  take  on  himself  the 
management  of  a  plantation,  always  a  responsible,  and  often  a 
very  difficult  undertaking.     It  was  felt  by  all  the  relatives  and 
neighbors  to  be  most  desirable  that  the  property,  situated  in  a 
remo^e  part  of  the  country,  near  the  sea.  should  be  sold,  in  order 
that  the  young  ladies  and  their  mother  should  have  the  benefit 
of  society  m  a  large  town.     They  wished  it  themselves,  being 
in  very  moderate  circumstances,  but  were  withheld  by  conscien- 
tious motives  from  leaving  a  large  body  of  dependents,  whom 
they  had  known  from  childhood,  and  who  could  scarcely  hope  to 
be  treated  with  the  same  indulgence  by  strangers. 


Chap.  XV.] 


COAL  OF  OOLITIC  PERIOD. 


211 


I  had  stopped  at  Richmond  on  my  way  south,  for  the  sake  of 
explormg  geologically  some  coal  mines,  distant  about  thirteen 
miles  from  the  city  to  the  westward.     Some  of  the  b-gest  and 
most  productive  of  these,  situated  in  Chesterfield  County,  belong 
to  an  English  company,  and  one  of  them  was  under  the  manage, 
ment  of  Mr.  A.  F.  Gifford.  formerly  an  officer  in  the  British 
army,  and  married  to  a  Virginian  lady.      At  their  agreeable 
residence,  near  the  Blackheath  mines,  we  were  received  most 
kindly  and  hospitably.     On  our  road  from  Richmond,  we  passed 
many  fields  which  had  been  left  fallow  for  years,  after  having 
been  exhausted  by  a  crop  of  tobacco.     The  whole  country  was 
covered  with  snow,  and,  in  the  pine  forests,  the  tall  trunks  of  the 
trees  had  a  white  coating  on  their  windward  side,  as  if  one  half 
had  been  painted.     I  persevered,  nevertheless,  in  my  examination 
of  the  mines,  for  my  underground  work  was  not  impeded  by  the 
weather,  and  I  saw  so  much  that  was  new,  and  of  high  scientific 
interest  m  this  coal-field,  that  I  returned  the  following  sprin^r  to 
complete  my  survey.  ° 

There  are  two  regions  in  the  state  of  Virginia  (a  country 
about  equal  in  area  to  the  whole  of  England  proper),  in  which 
productive  coal-measures  occur.  In  one  of  these  which  may  be 
called  the  western  coal-field,  the  strata  belong  to  the  ancieht 
carboniferous  group,  characterized  by  fossil  plants  of  the  same 
genera,  and,  to  a  great  extent,  the  same  species,  as  those  found 
m  the  ancient  coal-measures  of  Europe.  The  other  one,  wholly 
disconnected  in  its  geographical  and  geological  relations,  is  found 
to  the  east  of  the  Appalachian  Mountains,  in  the  middle  of  that 
granitic  region,  sometimes  called  the  Atlantic  Slope.*  In  con- 
sequence of  the  isolated  position  of  these  eastern  coal-beds,  the 
lowest  of  which  rest  immediately  on  the  fundamental  granite, 
while  the  uppermost  are  not  covered  by  any  overlying  fossiliferous 
formations,  we  have  scarcely  any  means  of  determinin«r  their 
relative  age,  except  by  the  characters  of  their  included  organic 
remains.  The  study  of  these,  induced  Professor  W.  B.  Rocrexs, 
In  his  memoir,  published  in  1842,t  to  declare  his  opinion  "that 

*  See  geological  map  of  the  U.  S.  in  my  "  Travels  in  North  America," 
vol.  1.  and  u.  p.  92.  f  Trans,  of  American  Geologists,  p.  298 


9!3 
L. 


UPRIGHT  FOSSIL  TREES. 


[Oirip.  XV. 

this  coal  was  of  newer  date  than  that  of  the  Appalachians,  and 
was  about  the  age  of  the  Oolite  or  Lias,  a  conclusion  which/after 
a  careful  examination  of  the  evidence  on  the  spot,  and  of  all  the 
organic  remains  which  I  could  collect,  appears  to  me  to  come 
very  near   he  truth.     If  we  embrace  this  cLlusion.  these  rocks 

'  ZV  °I!'V"''  ^'*^''*°  ^^""^  ^"  ^"  ^^"^'J^  and  the  United 
States,  which  we  can  prove,  by  their  orranio  remains,  to  be  of 
contemporaneous  origin  with  the  Oolitic  or  Jurassic  formation  of 
U^urope.     The  tract  of  country  occupied  by  the  crystalline  w  ks 

rthe%r?  ^°™^^«"^«-««hi«t'  and  others,  which  runs  par  Jlei 
o  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  between  them  and  the  sea,  is 
in  this  part  of  Virginia  about  seventy  miles  broad.     In  the  midst 
01  this  area  occurs  the  coal-field  alluded  to.  twenty-six  miles  W 
and  varymg  in  breadth  from  four  to  twelve  miles      The  W 
nver  flows  through  the  middle  of  it.  about  fifteen  miles  from  i 
northerji  extremity,  while  the  Appomattox  river  traverses  itla 
US  southern  borers.     The  beds  lie  in  a  trough  (see  section,  fig 

c;o^"  Z\  r  '^  *^'?  "'"^"y  ^'S^^y  ^"«^i««d  where  they 
crop  out  along  the  margin  of  the  basin,  while  the  strata  higher 
m  the  series  occupying  the  central  parts  of  the  area,  and  which 
are  devoid  of  organic  remains  and  of  coal,  are  nearly  horizontal 
..r^r  r^'°"  '^  *^'''  coal-measures  consists  of  quartzose 
sandstone  and  coarse  grit,  entirely  composed  of  the  detritus  of  thi 
neighboring  granitic  and  syenitic  rocks.  Dark  carbo_ 
shales  and  clays  occasionally  charged  with  iron  ores.  abouTin 
the  proximity  of  the  coal-seams,  and  numerous  impreslns  o? 

!^^  ^^*\fla«e«ed  and  prostrate  stems  of  Calamites  and  Equi- 
setum.     These  last,  however,  the  Calamites  and  Equisetum  are 
very  commonly  met  with  in  a  vertical  position,  more  or  less  ^or^ 
pressed  perpendicularly.     I  entertain  no  doubt  that  th    greato 
number  of  these  pknts  standing  erect  in  the  beds  above  and 

aTtlT  "f  •  ''^'\^^-'  g^---  in  the  places  whefe  they 
a  e  now  buried  m  sand  and  mud.  and  this  fact  implies  the 
gradual  accumulation  of  the  coal-measures  during  a  slow  and 
repeated  subsidence  of  the  whole  region 


Chap.  XV.] 


THICKNESS  OF  COAL-SEAMS. 


213 


A  great  number  of  fossil  fish,  chiefly  referable  to  two  nearly 
allied  speces  of  a  genus  very  distinct  from  any  ichthyolite  hith- 
erto  discovered   elsewhere   (a  ganoid   with  a  homocercal  tail) 
occur  m  the  lower  strata,  with  a.  few  shells ;  but  they  aflbrded 
me  no  positive  characters  to  determine  whether  the  deposit  was 
of  marine  or  fresh-water  origin.     Above  these  fossiliferous  beds 
which  probably  never  exceed  400  or  500  feet  in  thickness    a 
great  succession  of  grits,  sandstone,  and  shales,  of  unknown  depth 
occur.     They  have  yielded  no  coal,  nor  as  yet  any  organic  re' 
mams.     No  speculator  has  been  bold  enough  to  sink  a  shaft 
through  them,  and  it  is  beUeved  that  toward  the  central  parts  of 
the  basm  they  might  have  to  pass  througk  2000  or  2500  feet 
of  sterile  rocks  before  reaching  the  fundamental  coal-seams. 

The  next  ideal  section  will  show  the  manner  in  which  I  sup- 
pose the  coal-field  to  be  placed  in  a  hollow  in  the  granitic  rocks 
the  whole  country  having  suffered  by  great  denudation,  and  the 
surface  having  been  planed  off  almost  uniformly,  and  at  the  same 
time  overspread  by  a  deep  covering  of  gravel  with  red  and  yellow 

Section  shoi^^ng  the  Geological  Position^  the  James  River,  or  East  Virginian 

Coal-Field. 


Fig.  4. 


§ 
I 


D^ 


A.  Granite,  gneiss,  &c. 
C.  Tertiary  strata. 


wu■:('^7^^y^"^7\']\Ww^^^^ 


B.  Coal-measures. 

D.  Drift  or  ancient  alluvium. 


clay,  concealing  the  subjacent  formation  from  view,  so  that  the 
structure  of  the  region  could  not  be  made  out  without  difficulty 
but  for  artificial  excavations.  It  will  be  seen  by  the  section 
that  the  tertiary  strata  first  make  their  appearance  at  Rich- 
mond about  thirteen  miles  from  the  eastern  outcrop  of  the  coal, 
and  they  continue  to  occupy  the  lower  country  between  that  city 
and, the  Atlantic. 

The  only  beds  of  coal  hitherto  discovered  lie  in  the  lower  part 


■fc 


114 


VEGETABLE  STRUCTURE  OF  COAL        [Chap.  XV. 


of  the  coal-meaBures,  and  consequently  come  up  to  the  surface  all 
round  the  margin  of  the  basin.     As  the  dip  is  usually  at  a  con- 
siderable angle,  vertical  shafts,  from  400  to  800  feet  deep    are 
required  to  reach  the  great  seam,  at  the  distance  of  a  few  hun- 
dred yards  msido  the  edge  of  the  basin.     It  is  only,  therefore,  along 
a  narrow  band  of  country  that  the  coal  can  crop  out  naturally 
and  even  here  it  is  rarely  exposed,  and  only  where  a  river  or 
valley  has  cut  through  the  superficial  drift,  often  thirty  or  forty 
feet  thick.     The  principal  coal-seam  occurs  in  greatest  force  at 
Blackheath  and  the  adjoining  part-  of  Chesterfield  county,  where 
the  coal  18  for  the  most  part  very  pure,  and  actually  attains  the 
unusual  thickness  of  between  thirty  or  forty  feet.     I  was  not  a 
httle  surprised,  when  I  descended,  with  Mr.  GilTord,  a  shaft  800 
foet  deep,  to  find  myself  in  a  chamber  more  than  forty  feet  high 
caused  by  the  removal  of  the  coal.      Timber  props  of  great 
strength  are  required  to  support  the  roof,  and  although  the  use  of 
wood  is  lavish  here,  as  in  most     vrts  of  the  United  States,  the 
strong  props  are  seen  to  bend  under  the  incumbent  weight.    This 
great  seam  is  sometimes  parted  from  the  fundamental  granite  by 
an  mch  or  two  of  shale,  which  seems  to  have  constituted  the  soil 
on  which  the  plants  grew.     At  some  points  where  the  granite 
floor  touches  the  coal,  the  contact  may  have  been  occasioned  by 
subsequent  disturbances,  for  the  rocks  are  fractured  and  shifted  in 
many  ^jlaces.     This  more  modern  coal,  as  well  as  that  of  New- 
castle, and  other  kinds  of  more  ancient  date,  exhibits  under  the 
microscope  distinct  evidence  of  vegetable  structure,  consisting  in 
this  case  principally  of  parallel  fibers  or  tubes,  whose  walls  are 
pierced  with  circular  or  elongated  holes.    See  fig.  5.  B.  and  F. 
By  analysis  it  is  found  that  so  far  as  relates  to  the  proportions 
of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  the  composition  of  this  coal  is  identical 
with  that  of  ore  nary  specimens  of  the  most  ancient  coal  of 
America  and  Europe,  although  the  latter  has  been  derived  from 
an  assemblage  of  plants  of  very  distinct  species.     The  bituminous " 
coal,  for  example,  of  the  Ohio  coal-field,  and  that  of  Alabama, 
yields  the  same  elements. 

For  many  years  the  cities  <  r  TTi  "/ York  and  Philadelphia  hav€ 
been  supplied  with  gas  for  r-h  l:  t  th^ir  streets  and  houses,  from 


Chap.  XV.] 


EXPLOSION  OF  GA8 


91S 


Vegetable  Structure  of  Mineral  Charcoal  from  Clover-hill  Mines,  Virginia. 

coal  of  the  Blackheath  mines,  and  the  annual  quantity  taken  by 
Philadelphia  alone,  has  of  late  years  amounted  to  10,000  tons. 
We  might  have  expected,  therefore,  that  there  would  be  danger 
of  the  disengagement  of  inflammable  gases  from  coal  containfng 
so  much  volatile  matter.  Accordingly,  here,  as  in  the  English 
coal-pits,  fatal  explosions  have  sometimes  occurred.  One  of  these 
happened  at  Blackheath,  in  1839,  by  which  forty-five  negroes 
and  two  white  overseers  lost  their  lives ;  and  another  almost  as 
serious,  so  lately  as  the  year  1844. 

Before  I  examined  this  region,  I  was  told  that  a  strange 
anomaly  occurred  in  it,  for  there  were  beds  of  coke  overlyincr 
others  3o>isistii»g  of  bituminous  coal.  I  found,  on  visiting  the 
various  localities  of  this  natural  coke,  that  it  was  caused  by  the 
vicinity  or  contact  of  volcanic  rocks  (greenstone  and  basalt), 
which,  coming  up  through  the  granite,  intersect  the  coal- 
measures,  or  sometinics  make  their  way  laterally  between  two 
strata,  appearing  as  a  conformable  mass.  As  in  the  Durham 
coaLfie-d  in  England  (in  the  Haswell  collieries,  for  example),  the 
Igneous  rock  has  driven  out  all  the  gaseous  matter,  and,  where 


S16 


MODERN  AND  ANCIENT  COAL-FIELDS.      [Chap.  XV. 


It  overlies  it,  has  depriw  i  the  upper  coal  of  its  volatile  ingrc 
dients,  while  its  itifluenee  has  not  always  extended  to  lower 
seams.  In  some  spots,  the  conversion  of  coal  into  coke  seems 
to  have  Leen  k-ought  about,  not  so  much  by  the  heating  agency 
of  the  intrusive  basalt,  as  by  its  meclianicai  effect  'a  breaking  up 
and  destroying  the  integrity 'of  the  beds,  and  rendering  them 
permeable  to  water,  thereby  facilitating  the  escape  of  the  gases 
of  decomposing  coal. 

In  conclusion,  I  may  observe  that  I  was  much  struck  with 
the  general  similarity  of  this  more  modern  or  Oolitic  coal-field, 
and  those  of  ancient  or  Paleozoic  date  in  England  and  in  Europe 
generally.     I  was  especially  reminded  of  the  carboniferous  rocks 
near  St.  Etienne,  in  France,  which  I  visited  in  1843.     These 
also  rest  on  granite,  and  consist  of  coarse  grits  and  sandstone 
derived  from  the  detritus  of  granite.     In  both  coal-fields,  the 
French  and   the  Virginian,  upright   Calaraites  abound;    fossil 
plants  are  met  with  in  both,  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
organic  remains,  shells  especially  being  absent.     The  character 
of  the  coal  is  similar,  but  in  the  richness  and  thickness  of  the 
seams  the  Virginian  formation  is  pre-eminent.     When  we  behold 
phenomena  so  identical,  repeated  at  times  so  remote  in  .he  earth's 
history,  and  at  periods  when  such  very  distinct  forms  of  vegeta- 
tion flourished,  we  may  derive  from  the  fact  a  useful  caution,  in 
regard  to  certain  poprlar  generali2,ations  respecting   a  peculiar 
state  of  the  globe  dunng  the  remoter  of  the  two  epochs  alluded 
to.      Some  geologistb,  for  example,  have  supposed  an  atmosphere 
densely  charged  with  carbonic  acid  to  be  necessary  to  explain 
the  origin  of  coal — an  atmosphere  so  unlike  the  present,  as  to  be 
unfit  for  the  existence  of  air-breathing,  vertebrate  animals ;  but 
this  theory  they  will  hardly  be  prepared  to  extend  to  so  modern 
an  era  as  the  Oolitic  or  Triassic* 

During  my  visit  to  one  of  the  coal-pits,  an  English  overseer, 
who  was  superintending  the  works,  told  me  that  within  his 
memory  there  had  been  a  great  improvement  in  the  treatment 

*  See  a  paper  on  this  coal-field,  by  the  author,  Quarterly  Journal  Geolo<r 
Soc.,  Aujrust,  1847,  vol.  ili.  p.  261,  and  an  accompanying  memoir,  descrip. 
tivo  of  ^hf-  fossil  plants,  by  Charles  J.  F.  Bunbury,  For.  S.  G.  S. 


Chap.  XV.] 


NEGROES  IN  THE  MINES. 


217 


of  the  negroes.      Some  years  ago,  a  planter  came  to  him  with  a 
refractory  slave,  and  asked  him  to  keep  him  underground  for  a 
year  by  way  of  punishment,  saying,  that  no  pay  would  be  re- 
quired for  his  hire.     The  overseer  retorted  that  he  would  be  no 
mans  jailer.     The  British  company  at  Blackheath  having  re- 
solved  not  to  employ  any  slaves,  and  Mr.  GifTord,  having  engaged 
130  free  negroes,  found  he  could  preserve  good  discipline  without 
corporal  punishment ;  and  he  not  only  persuaded  several  newh 
arrived  laborers  from  England  to  work  with  the  blacks,  but  old 
Virginians,  also,  of  the  white  race,  engaged  themselves,  although 
their  coantrymen  looked  down  upon  them  at  first  for  associating 
with  such  companions.     Tney  confessed  that,  for  a  time,  '« thev 
felt  very  awkward."  but  it  was  not  long  before  the  proprietors 
of  other  mmes  followed  the  example  which  had  been  set  them 

VOL.  I.— K 


»>* 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

Journey  through  North  Carolina.— Wilmington.-  Recent  Fire  and  Passports 
for  Slaves.— Cape  Fear  River  and  Sraithfield.— Spanish  Moss,  and  Uses 

wi7"^^*'"'®^*°"""~"^"**"^®^'"°  Feeling.  — Passage  from  Mulattoes  to 
Whites.— Law  against  importing  free  Blacks.— Dispute  with  Massachu- 
setts.— Society  in  Charleston.— Governesses.— War  Panic. — Anti-English 
Feeling  caused  by  Newspaper  Press.— National  Arbitration  of  the  Amer- 
leans.— Dr.  Bachman's  Zoology.— Geographical  Representation  of  Spe- 
cies.— Rattle-Snakes. — Turkey  Buzzards. 

Dec.  23,  1845. — The  monotony  of  the  scenery  in  the  princi- 
pal route  from  the  northern  to  the  southern  states  is  easily 
understood  by  a  geologist,  for  the  line  of  railroad  happens  to  run 
for  hundreds  of  miles  on  the  tertiary  strata,  near  their  junction 
with  the  granitic  rocks.  Take  any  road  in  a  transverse  direction 
from  the  sea  coast  to  the  Alleghanies,  and  the  traveler  will  meet 
with  the  greatest  variety  in  the  scenery.*  In  passing  over  the 
tertiary  sands  and  clays,  we  see  Pine  Barrens  v/here  the  soil  is 
sandy,  and  a  swamp,  or  cane-brake,  where  the  argillaceous  beds 
come  to  the  surface.  The  entire  absence  of  all  boulders  and 
stones,  such  as  are  observable  almost  every  where  in  the  New 
England  States  and  New  York,  is  a  marked  geological  peculiar- 
ity of  these  southern  lowlands.  Such  erratic  blocks  and  boulders 
are  by  no  means  confined  in  the  north  to  the  granitic  or  second- 
ary formations,  for  some  of  the  largest  of  them,  huge  fragments 
of  granite,  for  example,  twenty  feet  in  diameter,  rest  on  the 
newer  tertiary  deposits  of  the  island  of  Martha's  Vineyard,  off 
the  coast  of  Massachusetts. 

After  leaving  Richmond,  I  remarked  that  the  railway  from 
Weldon  to  Wilmington,  through  North  Carolina,  had  not  im- 
proved in  the  last  three  years,  nor  the  stations  or  inns  where  wo 
stopped.     I  was  told,  in  explanation,  that  this  line  would  soon 

*  See  ray  "  Travels  in  North  America,"  vol.  i.  p.  93 :  and  the  colored 
geological  map,  vol.  ii. 


Oh»p.  XVI.] 


WILMINGTON. 


219 


be  superseded  or  nearly  so,  by  a  more  inland  road  now  making 
hrough  Eale,gh_^  We  reached  Wilmington  without  muTd^ 
hy.m  spue  of  the  ,ea  on  the  rails,  and  the  running  of  our  loco- 
mofve  engme  agamst  a  cow.  On  approaching  that  town  we 
were  glad  to  see  that  the  ground  was  not  eovefed  with  JS.^! 
every  where  to  the  northward,  and  our  eyes  wererfesTed  by 
the  sight  of  verdure,  caused  by  the  pines,  and  by  two  kinds  of 
evergreen  oaks,  beside,  magnolias,  and  an  nndergrolTh  „  hoi  y 
and  kalnua      In  the  streets' and  suburbs  of  Wilmington   the 

o^'tm  ,"''%*T  ("^^  "'""'''^''^  "  ™^  conspicuous  L,me 

?lt  T^;5™  ^r'  "'''•  ■•"'»«  "^""^  "•W  a  severe 

fiost,  especiaUy  that  of  the  aotumn  of  the  present  year  the  se 

vercst  s.nce  1835,     There  are  also  .me  splendid  liv  "ks  he" 

{heZZl^TV  Tf-  ™'y  "■""  e'"^'"'  ^l-ieh  furnish 
the  linest  timber  for  ship-building 

hJ7e^"r^^"^  Wilmington  after  the  steamboat  for  Charleston 
had  departed,  and  I  was  not  sorry  to  have  a  day  to  collect  ter- 

just  been  laid  in  ashes  when  we  were  here  four  years  ago  are 
now  rebuilt ;  but  there  has  been  another  fire  this  year,  imputed 
very  generally  to  incendiaries,  because  it  broke  out  in  many 
places  at  once.  There  had  been  a  deficiency  of  firemen"  o""' 
to  the  state  having  discontinued  the  immunity  from  militia  dutv° 
ibnnerly  conceded  to  those  who  served  the  fire-engines  Th^ 
city,  however  has  now  undertaken  to  find  substitutes  for  youn^ 
men  who  will  join  the  fire  companies.     A  lady  told  me  that" 

r^?rl  r^^^f"""  ^"'''  ^"'*^  ^^^y  ^"^^«"ly'  «h«  was  with 
a  merchant  whose  house  was  not  insured,  and,  finding  him  panic- 
struck,  and  incapable  of  acting  for  himself,  she  had  selected  his 
ledgers  and  other  valuables,  and  was  carrying  them  away  to  her 
own  house ;  but  on  the  way  the  civic  guard  stopped  her  in  the 
dark,  and,  suspecting  her  to  be  a  person  of  color,  required  her  to 

caZ    7/r''     f'  '"'^''"""^  '^''  incidentally,  as  a  serious 

cause  of  delay  when  time  was  precious ;  but  it  brought  home 

torcibly  to  our  minds  the  extraordinary  precautions  which  one 

th     ^^jf  P'^^*^^"  ^^'^  ^^^^  it  necessary  to  take  against  the 


m 


220 


SMITHFIELD,  NORTH  CAROLINA.         [Chap.  XVI. 


A  large  export  of  turpentine  is  the  chief  business  of  this  port, 
and  gashes  are  seen  cut  in  the  bark  of  the  pines  in  the  neighbor- 
ing forest,  from  which  resin  exudes.  The  half  decayed  wood  of 
these  resinous  pines  forms  what  is  called  light  wood,  burning 
with  a  most  brilliant  flame,  and  often  used  for  candles,  as  well 
as  for  reviving  the  fire.  A  North  Carolinian  is  said  to  migrate 
most  unwillingly  to  any  new  region  where  this  prime  luxury  of 
life  is  wanting. 

"When  we  sailed  for  Charleston,  the  steamer  first  proceeded 
thirty  miles  to  the  mouth  of  the  Cape  Fear  river,  and  then  an- 
chored there  for  several  hours  at  a  village  called  Smithfield,  in 
North  Carolina.     Here  I  strolled  along  the  shore,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  found  myself  in  a  wild  region,  out  of  siglit  of  all  human 
habitations,  and  every  sign  of  the  work  of  man's  hands.     The 
soil,  composed  of  white  quartzose  sand,  was  hopelessly  barren. 
Coming  to  a  marsh,  I  put  up  many  peewits,  which  flew  round 
me,  uttering  a  cry  resembling  that  of  our  European  species.    The 
evergreen  oaks  round  the  marsh  were  hung  with  Spanish  moss, 
ov  Tillandsia,  the  pods  of  which  are  now  full  of  downy  seeds. 
This  plant  is  not  a  parasite  like  the  misletoe,  of  which  a  species 
is  ako  common  on  the  trees  here,  but  simply  supports  itself  on 
trees,  without  sending  any  roots  into  them,  or  drawing  nourish- 
ment from  their  juices.     It  is  what  the  botanists  call  an  epiphyte, 
and  is  precisely  the  same  species  ( Tillandsia  usneoides),  which 
is  also  common  in  Brazil .;  so  that  as  we  journey  southward,  this 
flowering  epiphyte,  together  with  the  palmetto,  or  fan-palm,  may 
be  regarded  as  marking  an  approach  toward  a  more  tropical  veg- 
etation.    When  dried,  the  outer  soft  part  of  the  Tillandsia  de- 
cays and  leaves  a  woody  fiber  in  the  middle,  much  resembling 
horse-hair  in  appearance,  and  very  elastic.     It  is  used  in  the 
United  States,  and  exported  to  Liverpool,  for  stuffing  mattresses. 
In  preparing  it  they  first  bury  the  moss,  and  then  take  it  up 
again  when  the  exterior  coating  has  rotted  ofl'.     The  birds  also 
select  only  the  woody  fiber  of  the  withered  or  dead  stems  for 
btfilding  their  nests. 

On  the  morning  of  Christmas-day,  we  reached  Charleston,  S.C, 
and  found  the  interior  of  the  Episcopal  church  of  St.  PhUip 


Chap.  XVI.J 


CHARLESTON. 


221 


adorned  with  evergreens  and  with  artificial  flowers,  in  imitation 
of  magnohas  and  asters.     During  the  whole  servic;  the  boy     " 
the  streets  were  finng  pistol,  and  letting  off  fireworks,  which  re 
mmded  me  of  the  liberal  expenditure  of  gunpowder  indulged  i. 

•  tnit  ?°T  ^'t*""'"'  '"  ^'°"5''  '^'■^  celebrating  Christmas 
m  the  churches.  I  once  heard  a  file  of  soldiers  at  Girgenti  fire 
off  therr  muskets  inside  a  church.     Here  at  least  it  was  on  the 

outs.de  ;  but,  as  it  was  no  part  of  the  ceremony,  it  was  a  greater 
nter^p,      ,„  ,^,  ,,^„^      ^^  ^^^  ^^^  ^^  ^^  ^eajer 

ahabb.^  dressed,  and  several  mulattoes  in  the  church,  separlted 

ftZ  InlitT  rr  '"  '■'''''^'"''''  "'""•  *'■'*  --"ubtless  4  wire 
fully  entitled  to  wear,  being  much  richer.     Instead  of  g^win.. 

reconciled  to  the  strong  line  of  demarkation  drawn  between    h°e 
two  races,  it  appears  to  me  more  and  more  unnatural,  for  I  some- 
times discover  that  my  American  companions  ean  not  tell  me 
without  inquiry  to  which  race  certain  colored  individuals  belong 
and  some  English  men  and  women,  of  dark  complexion,  , Si 
cccas^ally  be  made  to  feel  awkward,  if  they  wereLveliLg^ith 
us  heie.     On  one  occasion,  the  answer  to  my  query  was  "  If  I 
eonld  get  sight  of  his  thumb  nail  I  could  tell  you."     It  apnears 
that  the  white  crescent,  at  the  base  of  the  nail,  is  who  h- ™m 
ing  in  the  full  blacks,  and  is  that  peculiarity  wiich  they  ae'2 
the  last  as  they  approximate  by  intermixture,  in  the  couri  of 
generations,  toward  the  whites. 

I  have  just  seen  the  foUowing  advertisement  in  a  newspaper  • 
--"  Runaway.     Reward.     A  liberal  reward  will  be  given  for 

btht  tlat  h'      '  "T,''  °'\'-     '^'  ''  "  '"""'■'  ™Iatto_so 

™tirm  „;  of  "  "*  """^  y^'"''  "'■  *""'=•"  ^'^-  Another  ad- 
b;  IXr  wl"™'™^  "^^"-  '""^''  '■'-■^  '='"-  "  -O-'"" 
So  long  as  the  present  system  continues,  the  idea  of  future 
ama  garaation  must  be  repugnant  to  the  dominant  race.  Thev 
would  shrmk  from  it  just  as  a  European  noble  would  do,  if  he 

maU  tb  r  'T  «"?''°''"''  °'  ^'''  g'""""™  would  inter! 

TWthT^ll      .  ""'  ''Tf ''™'  °f  °"^  °f  i-''  ■»™«1  servants. 
That  the  alleged  personal  dislike  of  the  two  r,,ce8  toward  each 


ooo 


DISPUTE  WITH  MASSACHUSETTS.       [Chap.  XVI 


I 


other,  so  much  insisted  upon  by  many  writers,  must  arise  chiefly 
from  prejudice,  seems  proved,  not  only  by  the  mixture  of  the 
races,  but  by  the  manner  in  which  we  see  the  Southern  women, 
when  they  are  ill,  have  three  or  four  female  slaves  to  sleep  on 
the  floor  of  their  sick  room,  and  often  consign  their  babes  to  black 
nurses  to  be  suckled. 

That  the  attainder  of  blood  should  outlast  all  trace  of  African 
leatures,  betrays  a  feeling  aUied  to  the  most  extravagant  aristo- 
cratic pride  of  the  feudal  ages,  and  stands  out  in  singular  relief 
and  contrast  here  in  the  South,  where  the  whites,  high  and  low, 
ignorant  and  educated,  are  striving  among  themselves  to  main- 
tain a  standard  of  social  equality,  in  defiance  of  all  the  natural 
distinctions  which  diflerence  of  fortune,  occupation,  and  degrees 
of  refinement  give  rise  to. 

A  few  years  ago  a  ship  from  Massachusetts  touched  at  Charles- 
ton, having  some  free  blacks  on  board,  the  steward  and  cook  being 
of  the  number.  On  their  landing,  they  were  immediately  put 
into  jail  by  virtue  of  a  law  of  South  Carolina,  not  of  very  old 
standing.  The  government  of  Massachusetts,  in  a  state  of  great 
indignation,  sent  a  lawyer  to  investigate  the  case  and  remonstrate. 
This  agent  took  up  his  abode  at  the  Charleston  Hotel,  where  we 
are  now  comibrtably  established.  A  few  days  after  his  arrival, 
the  hotel  was  surrounded,  to  the  terror  of  all  the  inmates,  by  a 
mob  of  "  gentlemen,"  who  were  resolved  to  seize  the  New  En- 
gland envoy.  There  is  no  saying  to  what  extremities  they  would 
have  proceeded,  had  not  the  lawyer's  daughter,  a  spirited  girl,  re- 
fused to  leave  the  hotel.  The  excitement  lasted  five  days,  and 
almost  every  northern  man  in  Charleston  was  made  to  feel  him- 
self in  personal  danger.  At  length,  by  the  courage  and  energy 
of  some  of  the  leading  citizens,  Mr.  H was  enabled  to  es- 
cape, and  then  the  most  marked  attentions  were  paid,  and  civili- 
ties ofliered,  to  the  young  lady,  his  daughter,  by  the  families  of 
the  very  men  who  had  thought  it  right,  "  on  principle,"  to  get 
up  this  riot.  The  same  law  has  given  rise  to  some  very  awk- 
ward disputes  with  the  captains  of  English  vessels,  whose  color- 
ed sailors  have,  in  like  manner,  been  imprisoned.  To  obtain  re- 
dress for  the  injury,  in  such  cases,  is  impossible.     The  Federal 


Chap.  XVI.] 


SOCIETY  IN  CHARLESTON. 


22S 


Government  is  too  weak  to  enforce  its  authority,  and  the  sover- 
eign state  is  sheltered  under  the  ajgis  of  the  grand  confederacy. 

By  virtue  of  a  similar  law,  also,  in  force  in  Alabama,  the 
crews  of  several  vessels,  consisting  of  free  blacks,  have  been  com- 
mitted to  jail  at  Mobile,  and  the  captains  obliged  to  pay  the  costs, 
and  give  bonds  to  carry  them  away. 

I  asked  a  New  England  merchant,  who  is  here,  why  the  city 
of  Charleston  did  not  increase,  having  such  a  noble  harbor.  He 
said,  "  There  have  been  several  great  fires,  and  the  rich  are  ab- 
sentees for  half  the  year,  flying  from  malaria.  Brides,  you  will 
find  that  large  cities  do  not  grow  in  slave  states  as  in  the  North. 
Few,  if  any  of  the  ships,  now  in  this  harbor,  belong  to  merchants 
of  Charleston." 

We  were  as  much  pleased  with  what  we  saw  of  the  society  of 
Charleston,  during  this  short  visit,  as  formerly,  when  we  were 
here  in  1842.     I  have  heard  its  exclusiveness  much  commented 
on ;   for  there  are  many  families  here,  whose  ancestors  started 
from  genteel  English  stocks  in  Virginia  two  hundred  years  ago, 
and  they  and  some  of  the  eminent  lawyers  and  others,  who,  by 
their  education  and  talents,  have  qualified  themselves  to  be  re- 
ceived into  the  same  circle,  do  not  choose  to  associate  on  intimate 
terms  with  every  one  who  may  happen  to  come  and  settle  in  the 
place.      There  is  nearly  as  wide  a  range  in  the  degrees  of  refine- 
ment of  manners  in  American  as  in  European  society,  and,  to 
counterbalance  some  unfavorable  circumstances,  the  sooial  system 
has  also  some  advantages.     There  is  too  great  a  predominance 
of  the  mercantile  class,  and  the  democracy  often  selects  rude  and 
unpolished  favorites  to  fill  stations  of  power  ;  but  such  men  are 
scarcely  ever  without  some  talent.     On  the  other  hand,  mere 
wealth  is  less  worshiped  than  in  England,  and  there  is  no  rank 
and  title  to  force  men  of  slender  abilities,  and  without  even  agree- 
able manners,  into  good  company,  or  posts  of  political  importance. 
The  treatment   in   the  southern  states  of  governesses,  who 
usually  come  from  the  North  or  from  England,  is  very  kind  and 
consiicrate.      They  are  placed  on  a  much  greater  footing  of 
equality  with  the  family  in  which  l^.-y  live,  than  in  England. 
Occasionally  we  find  that  the  mother  of  the  children  has  staid  at 


fi 


334 


WAR-PANIO. 


[Chap.  XVI 


home  m  order  that  the  teacher  may  take  her  turn,  and  go  out  to 
a  party  This  system  implies  a  great  sacrifice  of  domestic  pri- 
vacy ;  but  ^hen  the  monotony  ol"  the  daily  routine  of  lessons  is 
thus  relieved  to  the  instructress,  the  pupil  must  also  be  a  gainer 
Their  salaries  are  from  60  to  100  guineas,  which  is  more  than 
they  receive  in  the  northern  states. 

The  negroes  here  have  certainly  not  the  manners  of  an  op. 
pressed  race.  One  evening,  when  we  had  gone  out  to  dins  fn 
the  suburbs,  in  a  close  carriage,  the  same  coachman  returned  for 
us  at  night  A^h  an  open  vehicle.  It  was  very  cold,  the  frost 
having  been  more  intense  this  year  than  any  winter  since  1835 
ami  I  remonstrated  strongly;  but  the  black  driver,  as  he  shut 
the  door,  said,  with  a  good-humored  smile,  «<  that  all  the  other 
carriages  o  his  master  were  engaged;"  'and  adde  ,  f N  t 
mind,  it  will  soon  be  over !"  ^'"evei: 

Ch^La?^'  ^t^"]  "^  '^'  ^^"^^^^'^  ^°"^^  *^"«  ^^  that,  on 
Chastmas  eve,  the  day  we  came  here,  at  nine  o'clock  at  night 

when  he  was  just  going  to  bed,  an  English  resident  came  to  hini 
whose  mind  was  so  full  of  the  prevailing  war-panic,  that  nothin" 
would  satisfy  him  but  the  obtaining  immediate  letters  of  natural 
Ration.  He  seemed  to  think  that  hostilities  with  England 
might  break  out  m  the  course  of  the  night,  and  that,  in  conse- 
quence, a  his  property  would  be  confiscated.  He  was  accord- 
ingly enrolled  as  a  citizen,  «  although,"  said  the  judge,  «.  we  shall 
not  gam  much  by  his  courage,  should  we  have  to  defend  Charle 
ton  against  a  British  fleet."  '-naries 

.Jri'^'^i^'  ^°'.  ^  ^"*^'^  post-office  steam-ship  sailed  into 
the  harbor  here,  and  took  soundings  in  various  places,  and  th  s 
incident  has  given  ofiense  to  many,  although  in  reahty  the  su" 
vey  was  made  under  the  expectation  that  the  proposed  scheme 
fo  extending  the  line  of  British  West  India  mail-steamers  along 
this  coast  would  soon  take  eflect  ^ 

thn  ks  that  a  war  would  rmn  the  maritime  states,  why  so  many 
d  he  people  betrayed  so  much  sympathy  with  the  hostile  demon- 
stration got  up  by  the  press  against  England.  «<  We  have  a  set 
of  demagogues.-'  he  replied,  -in  this  country,  who  trade  on  the 


Chap.  XVl.J 


ANTI-ENGLISH  FEELING. 


22fi 


wticle  called  'hatred  to  England/  as  so  much  political  capital 

nlir^'Th"  '"^^^^l^-'^-  -  -tton.  or 'a  CanadiT  ' 
m  lumber.       They  court  the  multitude  by  blustering  and  bv 

hreatenmg  England.  There  is  a  rxatural  leaning  in  fhe  South 
toward  Great  Britain,  as  furnishing  a  market  for  their  cotton 

fntioted'  '".r""  'i  '''''  ''^'  *^^'^  "^^^^  '^^  northerlstave 
nflicted  on  them       But  these  feelings  are  neutralized  by  a  dis! 

Ike  of  the  abohtaonist  party  in  England,  and  by  a  strong  U "t 
of  an  agomsm  to  Great  Britain,  which  the  Irish  bring  over  he  e 
All  -these  sources  of  estrangement,  however,  are  as  nothinir  in 
comparison  with  the  baneful  effect  of  your  press,  and  its  persever- 
ing misrepresentation  of  every  thing  American.      Almost  every 

a.I' r"       r  '\"  T^''  "^^  "  ^'^'^'''^^'  ^"^d  -"  that  is  said 
hi  n       !  '"^     ""^^'"^  "  immediately  cited  in  our  newspapers, 
because  it  serves  to  augment  that  political  capital  of  which  i 
have  spoken."     I  remarked  that  the  nation  and  its  goverm^ent 
are  not  answerable  for  all  the  thoughtless  effusions  oflnonT^ou 
newspaper  writers,  and  that  the  tone  of  the  English  journals, 
since  the  agitation  of  the  Oregon  affair,  had  been  temperate 
guarded,  and  even  coufteous.      «  It  is  very  true."  he  said  ;   -  the 
limes  m  particular,  formerly  one  of  the  most  insolent  and  ma- 
lignant.     But  the  change  has  been  too  sudden,  and  the  motive 
too  transparent      Th.  English  know  that  the  world  can  never 
suspect  them  of  w:.nt  of  courage  if  they  show  a  disinclination  to 
go  to  war.      ]S.ot  wishing  to  waste  their  blood  and  treasure  for 
so  useless  a  ■    .  as  Oregon,  they  are  behaving  like  a  man 

who   having  another,  has  no  mind,  when  called  out,  to 

fight  a  duel  al>,  '  ing.     He  therefore  makes  an  apology. 

But  such  civility    .a  not  L.st.  and  if  the  anonymous  abuse 

ttsed  "      '"  '"^  '''"'''  """^  ^°^"^^''  '*  "^^"^^  ^°^^  ^^°  ^^^^ 

A  short  time  after  this  conversation.  I  fell  in  with  a  young 
officer  of  the  American  navy  who  was  wishing  for  war.  partly 
for  the  sake  of  active  service,  but  chiefly  from  intense  nationality. 
_We  rnay  get  the  worst  of  it,"  he  said,  «  for  a  year  or  two.  but 
Ji-ngland  will  not  come  out  of  the  struggle  without  being  forced 
to  acknowledge  that  she  has  had  to  deal  with  a  first-rate  instead 


226 


ANTI-ENGLTSH  FEELING. 


[Chap.  XVI. 


of  a  second-rate  power."  Soon  after  this  T  met  an  English 
sportsman,  who  had  been  traveling  for  his  amusement  in  the 
western  states,  where  he  had  been  well  received,  and  liked  the 
people  much,  but  many  of  them  had  told  him,  "  We  must  have 
a  brush  with  the  English  before  they  will  respect  us." 

This  sentiment  is  strong  with  a  certain  party  throughout  the 
Union,  and  would  have  no  existence  if  they  did  not  respect  the 
English,  and  wish  in  their  hearts  to  have  their  good  opinion. 
It  may  be  well  for  an  old  nation  to  propound  the  doctrine  that 
every  people  ought  to  rest  on  their  own  dignity,  and  be  satisfied 
with  their  place  in  the  world  without  troubling  themselves  about 
what  others  think  of  them,  or  running  the  risk  of  having  applied 
to  them  the  character  which  Goldsmith  ascribed  to  the  French 
of  his  times  ; — 

•'  Where  the  weak  soul  within  itself  unblest, 
Leans  for  support  upon  another's  breast." 
But  they  whose  title  to  consideration  is  new,  however  real,  will 
rarely  occupy  their  true  place  unless  they  take  it ;  whereas  an 
older  nation  has  seldom  to  assert  its  claims,  and  they  are  often 
freely  conceded,  long  after  it  has  declined  from  its  former  power. 
To  an  ambitious  nation,  feeding  its  imagination  with  anticipations 
of  coming  greatness,  it  is  peculiarly  mortifying  to  find  that  what 
they  have  actually  achieved  is  barely  acknowledged.    They  grow 
boastful  and  impatient  to  display  their  strength.      When  they 
are  in  this  mood,  no  foreign  country  should  succumb  to  them ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,   it  is  equally  impolitic  and  culpable  to 
irritate  them  by  disparagement,  or  by  not  yielding  to  them  their 
proper  place  among  the  nations.      "  You  class  us,"  said  one  of 
their  politicians  to  me  in  Washington,  "  with  the  South  American 
republics  ;  your  embassadors  to  us  come  from  Brazil  and  Mexico 
to  Washington,  and  consider  it  a  step  in  their  advancement  to  go 
from  the  United  States  to  Spain,  or  some  second-rate  German 
court,  having  a  smaller  population  than  two  of  our  large  states. 
Yet,  in  reality,  where  is  there  a  people  in  the  world,  except 
France,  with  which  it  so  much  concerns  you  to  live  in  amity  as 
the  United  States,  and  with  what  other  nation  have  you  and 
Vour  chief  colonies  so  much  commercial  intercourse  ?" 


Ohap.  XVI.] 


DR.  BACHMAN'S  ZOOLOGY. 


287 


On  listening  to   complaints   against   the  English  press,    my 
thoughts  often  recurred  to  Bonaparte's  prosecution  of  the  royalist 
emigrant,  Peltier,  after  the  peace  of  Amiens,  February,  1803, 
tnd  the  appeal  to  the  jury  of  Sir  James  Mackintosh,  as  counsel 
tor  the  defendant,  on  the  want  of  dignity  on  the  part  of  the  First 
Consul,  then  in  reality  the  most  powerful  sovereign  in  Europe, 
ui  persecuting  a  poor,  defenseless,  and  proscribed  exile,  for  abusive 
ediioiial  articles.      The  court  and  jury  were  probably  of  the  same 
mind  ;  but  the  verdict  of  guilty  showed  that  they  deemed  it  no 
light  nudtter  that  the  peace  of  two  great  nations  should  be  dis- 
turbed, by  permitting  anonymous  libels,  or  a  continued  outpour- 
ing of  invective  and  vituperation,  calculated  to  provoke  the  ruler 
of  a  friendly  country.     In  America  the  sovereign  people  read 
every  thing  wriiten  against  them,  as  did  Napoleon  to  the  last, 
and,  like  him,  with  unmitigated  resentment. 

Before  leaving  Ohdileston  I  called  on  Dr.  Bachman,  whose 
acquaintance  I  had  made  in  1842,  and  was  glad  to  see  on  his 
table  the  first  volumes  of  a  joint  work  by  himself  and  Audubon, 
on  the  land  quadrupeds  oi  North  America.  These  authors  will 
give  colored  figures  and  descriptions  of  no  less  than  .200  mam- 
malia, exclusive  of  cetacea,  all  inhabiting  this  continent  between 
the  southern  limits  of  the  Arctic  region  and  the  Tropic  of  Cancer, 
for  they  now  include  Texas  in  the  United  States.  Not  more 
than  seventy-six  species  are  enumerated  by  preceding  naturalists, 
and  several  of  these  are  treated  by  Bachman  and  Audubon  not 
as  true  species  but  mere  varieties.  Their  industry,  however,  in 
augmenting  the  list  of  n6w  discoveries,  is  not  always  welcomed 
by  the  subscribers,  one  of  whom  has  just  written  to  say,  «'  if  you 
describe  so  many  squirrels,  I  can  not  go  on  taking  in  your  book." 
The  tribe  alluded  to  in  this  threatening  epistle,  especially  the 
striped  species,  is  most  fully  represented  in  North  America,  a 
continent  so  remarkable  for  its  extent  of  wwodland  and  the  variety 
of  its  forest  trees.  Yet,  after  traveling  so  much  in  the  woods,  I 
had  never  got  sight  of  more  than  three  or  four  species,  owirg,  I 
am  informed,  to  their  nocturnal  habits.  I  regretted  that  I  had 
not  yet  seen  the  flying  squirrel  in  motion,  and  was  surprised  to 
hear  that  Dr.  Bachman  had  observed  about  a  hundred  of  them 


rj 


'  ^1 


298 


DR.  BACIIMAN'S  ZOOLOGY. 


[Chap  XVI 


every  eveiiinp,  for  several  weeks,  nenr  rhilndelphia,  on  two  tall 
oaks,  m  the  autiuim,  when  acorns  and  chestimts  wore  abundant 
and  when  they  had  spare  tinne  for  play.      Thoy  wore  amnsinc 
themselves  by  passing  from  one  tree  to  another,  throwing  thetn- 
selves  ofl  from  the  top  of  one  of  the  oaks,  and  deseending  at  a 
considerable  anp^le  to  near  the  base  of  the  other ;   then  inelininff 
the  head  upward  just  before  reaching  the  ground,  so  as  to  turn  and 
aJjght  on  the  trunk,  which  they  immediately  climbed  up  to  repeat 
the  same  manoDuvro.     In  this  way  there  was  almost  a  continuous 
Wight  ol  them  crossmgeach  other  in  the  air  between  the  two  trees 
I  had  heard  much  of  the  swamp-rabbit,  which  they  hunt  near 
the  coast  m  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  and  was  glad  to  see  a 
stufled  specimen.      It  is  an  aquatic  hare  {Lejms  palustrUY  diviner 
most  nimbly,  and  outswimming  a  Newfoundland  dog. 

Dr.  Bachman  pointed  out  to  me  ten  genera  of  btrds,  and  ten 
ol  quadruped^  all  peculiar  to  North  America,  but  each  repre- 
sented on  the  opposite  side  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  by  distinct 
species      The  theory  of  specific  centers,  or  the  doctrine  that  the 
original  stock  of  each  species  of  bird  and  quadruped  originated  in 
one  spot  only,  may  explain  in  a  satisfactory  manner  one  part  of 
this  phenomenon ;  for  we  may  assume   that   a   lofty  ehaiu  of 
mountains  opposed  a  powerful  barrier  to  migration,  and  that  the 
mountains  were  more  ancient  than  the  introduction  of  these  par- 
ticular quadrupeds  and  birds  into  the  planet.     But  the  limitation 
ot  peculiar  generic  types  to  certain  geographical  ajeas,  now  ob- 
served in  so  many  parts  of  the  globe,  points  to  some  other  and 
higher  law  govermng  the  creation  of  species  itself,  which  in  the 
present  state  of  science  is  inscrutable  to  us,  and  may,  perhaps 
remam  a  mystery  forever.      The  adaptation  of  peculiar  forms' 
mstincts,  qualities,  and  organizations  to  the  present  geography 
and  climate  of  a  region,  may  be  a  part  only  of  the  conditions 
which  govern  m  every  case  the  relations  of  the  animate  beings 
to  their  habitations.      The  past  condition   and  changes  of  the 
globe  and  its  mhabitants,  throughout  the  whole  period  when  the 
difierent  beings  were  entering,  each  in  succession,  upon  the  scene, 
and   ail  the  future  conditions  and  changes  to  the  end  of  vast 
periods,  durmg  which  they  may  be  destined  to  exist,  ought  to  be 


Ciur.  XVI. J 


RAl  TLE-SNAKE8. 


22d 


known,  befow  we  can  expect  to  comprehend  why  certain  types 
were  originally  selected  for  certain  areas,  whether  of  land  or  water 
In   the   museum  of  the  Medical  College,   TrofesGor  Shepard 
Bhowed  me  a  fine  specimen  of  the  largo  rattle-snake  of  South 
Carolina   {Crotalus    adamatitinus),    preserved    in    spirits       It 
was  said  to  have  been  nine  years  old,  having  six  rattles,  the 
tail  acquiring  one  annually  after  the  third  year.      When  brought 
into  the  laboratory  in  winter  in  a  torpid  state,  an  e^'jctric  shock 
had  been  communicated  to  it,  which  threw  it  into  a  state  of 
extreme  excitement.     Two  tortoises,   nearly  torpid,  were   also 
put  by  the  professor  mto  a  glass  bell  filled  with  laughing  gas  and 
they  immediately  began  to  leap  about  with  great  agility,  and  con- 
turned  in  this  state  of  muscular  excitement  for  more  than  an  hour 
In  both  my  tours  in  America,  I  heard  stories  not  only  of  dorrs' 
which  had  died  suddenly  from  the  bite  of  rattle-snakes,  but  men 
also  ;   and  the  venom  is  said  to  be  more  virulent  in  the  south      I  re- 
joiced, therefore,  that  I  had  chosen  the  coldest  season  for  my  visit 
to  these  latitudes  ;  but  it  seemed  singular  that  in  my  wanderin-s 
to  explore  the  rocks  in  various  states,  I  had  never  yet  got  sight  of 
a  single  snake,  or  heard  its  rattle.     That  they  make  a  much  greatc  r 
fagure  in  books  of  travels  than  in  real  life,  I  can  not  but  suspect 
Almost  all  the  best  houses  in  Charleston  are  built  with  veran- 
dahs, and  surrounded  with  gardens.      In  some  of  the  streets  we 
admired  the  beautiful  evergreens,  and  remarked  among  them  the 
Prunus  mrginiana,  with  black  cherries  hanging  to  it,  and  Ma<r- 
noha  grandijlora.     The  number  of  turkey  buzzards  is  surprising 
I  have  seen  nine  of  them  perched  side  by  side,  like  so  many 
bronze  statues,  breaking  the  long  line  of  a  roof  in  th^  clear  blue 
sky,  while  others  were  soaring  in  the  air,  each  feather,  at  the 
extremity  of  their  extended  wings,  being  spread  out,  so  as  to  be 
seen  separate  from  the  rest.     A  New  England  friend,  whom  we 
met  here,  seeing  my  interest  in  these  birds,  told  me  they  are  the 
sole  scavengers  of  the  place,  and  a  fine  of  five  dollars  is  imposed 
oil  any  person  who  kills  one.      -  You  are  lucky  in  being  hero  in 
a   3old  season  ;  if  you  should  come  back  in  summer,  you  M'ould 
think  that  these  vultures  had  a  right  to  the  whole  city,  it  stinka 
BO  intolerably." 


I 


m 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

Charleston  to  Savannah.— Beaufoit  River,  or  Inland  Navigation  in  South 
^  Carolina.— Slave  Stealer.— Cockspur  Island.— Rapid  Growth  of  Oysters. 
—Eagle  caught  by  Oyster.— Excursion  from  Savannah  to  Skiddaway 
Island.— Megatherium  and  Mylodon.— Cabbage  Palms,  or  Tree  Palmet- 
tos.— Deceptive  Appearance  of  Submarine  Forest.— Alligators  swallow- 
mg  Flints. — Their  Tenacity  of  Life  when. decapitated. — Grove  of  Live 
Oaks. — Slaves  taken  to  Free  States. 

Dec.  28,   1845 — A  fine  steam-ship,   the  General  Clinch, 
conveyed  us  to  Savannah.     I  was  surprised,  when  sailing  out 
of  the  beautiful  harbor  of  Charleston,  on  a  bright  scorching  day, 
to  see  a  cloud  of  smoke  hanging  over  the  town,  and  learned  that 
they  burn  here  not  a  little  of  what  is  called  Liverpool  coal. 
Among  others  on  board,  was  a  female  passenger  from  one  of  the 
western  states,  who,   having  heard  me  make  inquiries  for  my 
wife,  went  up  to  her  in  the  ladies'  cabin  and  said,  "  Your  old 
man  is  mighty  eager  to  see  you ;"   "  old  man,"  as  we  afterward 
found,  being  synonymous  with  husband  in  the  West.     We  were 
to  go  by  the  inland  navigation,  or  netween  the  islands  and  the 
coast.     After  passing  Edisto  Pomt,  we  ran  aground  at  the  en- 
trance of  St.  Helena's  Sound,  in  mid-passage,  and  were  detained 
some  hours  till  the  tide  floated  us  off'  to  the  westward,  through 
the  winding  mazes  of  a  most  intricate  channel,  called  the  Beau- 
fort  River.      We   passed   between   low  sandy  islands,  and  an 
equally  low  mainland,  covered  with  evergreen  oaks,  and  long- 
leaved  pines  and  palmettos,  six  or  seven  feet  high.      Sometimes 
we  sailed  by  a  low  bluff'  or  cliff"  of  white  sand,  two  or  three  feet 
in  height,  then  by  a  cotton  plantation,  then  by  large  salt  marshes 
covered  with  reeds,  on  which  the  cattle  are  supported  when  fod- 
der is  scarce  in  winter.     The  salt  water  in  this  narrow  channel 
was  as  calm  as  a  lake,  and  perfectly  clear.     Numerous  wild 
4ucks  were  diving  as  our  steamboat  ppproached,  and  beds  of 
oysters  were  uncovered  between  high  and  low  water  mark.     It 


Chap.  XVII.J 


BEAUFORT. 


231 


was  a  novel  and  curious  scene,  especially  when  we  approached 
Jieaufort,  a  picturesque  town  composed  of  an  assemblage  of  villas 
the   summer  residences  of  numerous   planters,  who  retire  here 
during  the  hot  season,  when  the  interior  of  South  Carolina  is  un- 
healthy  for  the  whites.     Each  villa  is  shaded  by  a  verandah, 
surrounded  by  beautiful  live  oaks  and  orange  trees  laden  with 
fruit,  though  with  leaves  slightly  tinged  by  the  late  severe  frost. 
It  IS  hoped  that  these  orange  trees  ^vill  not  suffer  as  they  did  in 
February,  1835.  for  then  the  cold  attacked  them  much  later  in 
the  season  and  after  the  sap  had  risen.      The  Pride-of-India  tree 
with  Its  berries  now  ripe,  i.  an  exotic  much  in  favor  here      A 
crowd  of  negroes,  in  their  gay  Sunday  clothes,  came  down  to 
look   at  our  steamboat,  grinning  and  chattering,  and  looking 
as  ««"aj.  perfectly  free  from  care,  but  so  ugly,  that  although 
they  added  to  the  singularity  and  foreign  aspect  of  the  scene, 
they  detracted  greatly  from  its  charms. 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  dense  beds  of  oysters  between  high 
and  Iqw  water  mark,  hundreds  of  which  adhere  to  the  timbers  of 
the  pier  at  Beaufort,  as  barnacles  do  in  our  English  ports.  I  might 
have  supposed  the  channel  to  be  really  what  it  is  called,  a  river 
An  old  Spamsh  fort,  south  of  Beaufort,  reminded  me  that  this 
region  had  once  belonged  to  the  Spaniards,  who  built  St.  Augus- 
tine   still  farther  to  the  south,  the  oldest   city  in  the  United 
btates,  and  I  began  to  muse  on  the  wonderful  history  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  race  in  settling  these  southern  states.      To  have 
overcome  and  driven  out  in  so  short  a  time  Indians.  Spaniards, 
and  French  and  yet.  after  all,  to  be  doomed  to  share  the  terri^ 
tory  with  three  millions  of  negroes  ! 

Of  this  latter  race,  we  had  not  a  few  passengers  on  board 
^omg  into  the  steerage  to  converse  with  some  of  them,  mv  curi- 
osity was  particularly  attracted  to  a  group  of  three,  who  were 
standing  by  themselves.  The  two  younger,  a  girl  and  a  lad. 
were  very  frank,  and  willing  to  talk  with  me.  but  I  was  imme^ 
diatey  joined  by  a  young  white  man,  not  ill-looking.  but  who 
•truck  me  as  having  a  very  determined  countenance  for  his  age. 
'  These  colored  people."  he  said.  "  whom  you  have  been  speakiL 

to,  belong  to  me.  and  thfiv  hnva  nr^KoKi.,  *„ij  xi...  x  .      " 

.-  -i —  i-.---.--.tr.-ij  luiu  yvu.  iiiai  i  nave 


232 


SLAVE  STEALER. 


[Chap.  XVII 


brought  them  by  railway  from  Augusta  to  Charleston.     I  hope 
to  dispose  of  them  at  Savamiah,  but  if  not,  I  shall  take  them  to 
Texas,  where  I  may  sell  them,  or  perhaps  keep  them  as  laborers 
and  settle  there  myself"     He  then  told  me  he  had  fought  in  the 
wars  lor  the  mdependence  of  Texas,  which  I  afterward  found  was 
quite  true,'  and,  after  telling  me  some  of  his  adventures,  he  said, 
"  I  Ajill  take  450  dollars  for  the  girl,  and  600  for  the  boy  ;  they 
are  both  of  pure  blood,  would  stand  a  hot  climate  well ;  they  can 
not  read,  but  can  count  up  to  a  thousand."     By  all  these  quali- 
ities,  negative  and  positive,  he  evidently  expected  to  enhance  in 
my  eyes  the  value  of  the  article  which  he  meant  me  to  buy  ;  and 
no  sooner  did  he  suspect,  by  one  of  my  questions,  that  I  was  a 
ioreigner  travehng  for  my  amusement,  than  he  was  off  the  sub- 
ject, and  I  attempted  in  vain  to  bring  him  back  to  it  and  to  learn 
why  the  power  of  counting  was  so  useful,  while  that  of  reading 
was  undesirable.     About  three  weeks  after  this  incident,  when 
we  were  at  Macon  in  Georgia,  there  was  a  hue  and  cry  after  a 
thief  who  had  stolen  five  negroes  near  Augusta,  and  had  taken 
them  to  Savannah,  in  the  General  Clinch,  where  he  had  sold  one 
of  them,  a  girl,  for  450  dollars.     From  Savannah  he  had  been 
traced  with  the  remaining  four,  by  railway,  to  Macon,  whence  it 
was  supposed  he  had  gone  south.     The  description  of  the  delin- 
quent left  me  no  doubt  that  he  was  my  former  feUow-traveler, 
and  I  now  learnt  that  he  was  of  a  respectable  family  in  Georgia' 
the  spoiled  child  of  a  widowed  mother,  self-willed  and  unmanage- 
able from  his  boyhood,  and  who  had  gone  off  against  the  wishes 
of  his  relations  to  fight  in  Texas.     I  recollected  that  when  we 
were  at  Beaufort,  none  of  his  negroes  had  gone  ashore,  and  that 
he  had  kept  his  eye  always  anxiously  on  them  during  our  stay 
there.     I  also  remarked,  that  the  planters  on  board,  who,  for  the 
most  part,  were  gentlemanhke  in  their  manners,  shunned  all  in- 
tercourse with  this  dealer,  as  if  they  regarded  his  business  as 
scarcely  respectable.     A  vast  majority  of  the  slave-owners  acqui- 
esced originally  in  the  propriety  of  abolishing  the  external  slave- 
trade  ;   but  the  internal  one  can  not,  they  say,  be  done  away 
with,  without  interfering  with  the  free  circulation  of  labor  from 
%n  overpeopled  district  to  another  where  hands  are  scarce.     To 


Chap.  XVII.]       EAGLE  CAUGHT  BY  AN  OYSTER. 


233 


check  this,  they  maiatain,  would  injure  the  negroes  as  much  as 
their  masters.     When  they  are  forced  to  part  with  slaves,  they 
usually  sell  one  to  another,  and  are  unwilling  to  dispose  of  them 
to  a  stranger.     It  is  reckoned,  indeed,  quite  a  disgrace  to  a  negro 
to  be  BO  discarded.     When  the  former  master  bids  for  one  of  his 
«'  own  people,"  at  a  sale  of  property  forced  on  by  debt,  the  pubhc 
are  unwilling  to  bid  against  him.     It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  a 
dealer  must  traffic  in  the  lowest  and  most  good-for-not,hing  class 
of  laborers,  many  of  wliom,  in  Europe,  would  be  in  the  hands  of 
policemen,  or  in  convict  ships  on  their  way  to  a  penal  settlement. 
I  heard  of  one  of  these  dealers,  who,  having  made  a  large  fortune, 
lived  sumptuously  in  one  of  the  towns  on  the  Mississippi  after 
retiring  from  business,  but  in  spite  of  some  influential  connections, 
he  was  not  able  to  make  his  way  into  the  best  society  of  the  place. 
At  the  mouth  of  the  Savannah  River  we  passed  Cockspur 
Island,  where  there  is  a  fort.     The  sea  is  said  to  have  encroach- 
ed many  hundred  yards  on  this  island  since  1740,  as  has  hap- 
pened at  other  points  on  this  low  Coast ;  but  there  has  been  also 
a  gain  of  land  in  many  places.     An  officer  stationed  at  the  fort 
told  me,  that  when  a  moat  was  dug  and  the  sea-water  admitted, 
oysters  grew  there  so  fast,  that,  at  the  end  of  two  years,  they 
afforded  a  regular  supply  of  that  luxury  to  the  garrison.     The 
species  of  oyster  which  is  so  abundant  here  {Ostrea  virginica) 
resembles  our  European  Ostrea  edulis  in  shape,  when  it  lives 
isolated  and  grows  freely  under  water;   but  those  individuals 
which  live  gregariously,  or  on  banks  between  high  and  low 
water,  lose  their  round  form  and  are  greatly  lengthened.     They 
are  called  racoon  oysters,  because  they  are  the  only  ones  which 
the  racoons  can  get  at  when  they  come  down  to  feed  at  low  tide. 
Capt.  Alexander,  of  the  U.S.     rtillery,  told  me  that,  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1844,  he  saw  a  large  bald-headed  eagle,  AquUa  lettcoce- 
phala,  which  might  measure  six  feet  from  tip  to  tip  of  its  ex 
tended  wings,  caught  near  the  bar  of  the  Savannah  river  by  one 
cf  those  racoon  oysters.      The  eagle  had  perched  upon  the  shelly 
tsh  to  prey  upon  it,  when  the  moUusk  suddenly  closed  its  valvea 
and  shut  iu  the  bird's  claw,  and  would  have  detained  its  enemy 
till  the  rising  tide  had  come  up  and  drowned  it,  had  not  the  cap- 


11 


y 


234 


EXCURSION  TO  SKIDDAWAY. 


[Cm  p.  XVII 


taiu  in  his  boat  secured  it  with  a  noose,  and  disengacred  it  from 
the  oyster.      He  flapped  his  wings  violently  as  they  approached 
but  could  not  escape.  •'     i  r  , 

Dec.  29 — Savannah  has  a  population  of  12,000  souls,  but 
seems  rather  stationary,  though  some  new  buildings  are  rising 
rhe  mildness  of  its  climate  is  attributed  partly  to  the  distance 
to  which  the  Alleghany  Mountains  retire  from  the  sea  coast  in 
this  latitude,  and  partly  to  the  proximity  of  the  Gulf-stream     But 
many  of  the  northern  invalids,  who  are  consumptive,  and  had 
hoped  to  escape  a  winter  by  taking  refuge  in  this  city,  are  com- 
plaining of  the  frost,  and  say  that  the  houses  are  inadequately 
protected  against  cold.      The  sun  is  very  powerful  at  mid-dav 
and  we  see  the  Camellia  Jajmiica  in  the  gardens  flowering  in 
the  open  air ;  but  the  leaves  of  the  orange  trees  look  crisp  and 
frost-bitten  and  I  am  told  that  the  thermometer  lately  fell  as  low 
as  17    Fahr.,  so  that  even  the  salt  water  froze  over  in  some  of 
the  marshes. 

While  at  Savannah  I  made  a  delightful  excursion,  in  com- 
pany  with  Dr.  Le  Conte.  Captain  Alexander,  and  Mr.  Hodgson 
to  Skiddaway,  one  of  the  sea-islands,  which  may  be  said  to  forni 
part  of  a  great  delta  on  the  coast  of  Georgia,  between  the  mouths 
of  the  Savannah  and  Ogeechee  rivers.     This  alluvial  region  con- 
sists of  a  wide  extent  of  low  land  elevated  a  few  feet  above  hi-^h 
water,  and  mtersected  by  numerous  creeks  and  swamps      I  gave 
some  account  m  my  former  tour  of  my  visit  to  Heyner's  Bridge  * 
where  the  bones  of  the  extinct  mastodon  and  mylodon  were  found 
Skiddaway  is  five  or  six  miles  farther  from  Savannah  in  the  same 
southeast  direction,  and  is  classical  ground  for  the  geologist  for 
on  its  northwest  end,  where  there  is  a  low  cliff- from  tw°o  to  six 
feet  m  height,  no  less  than  three  skeletons  of  the  hucre  Me^athe- 
rmm  have  been  dug  up,  besides  the  remains   of  the  Mylodon- 
Elephus  pnmigenius,  Mastodon  giganteus,  and  a  species  of  the 
ox  tribe      The  bones  occur  in  a  dark  peaty  soil  or  marsh  mud. 
above  which  is  a  stratum,  three  or  four  feet  thick,  of  sand,  charged 
with  oxide  of  iron,  and  below  them  and  beneath  the  sea  level 
occurs  sand  containing  a  great  number  of  marine  fossil  shells,  all 
*  Travels  in  North  America,  vol.  i.  p.  163. 


Chap.  XVII.J 


CABBAGE  PALM. 


235 


belonging  to  species  which  still  inhabit  the  neighboring  coast, 
showing  how  modern  is  the  date,  geologically  speaking,  of  the  ex' 
tinct  animals,  since  they  were  evidently  ])osterior  to  the  existing 
molluscous  fauna  of  the  sea. 

The  scenery  of  the  low  flat  island  of  Skiddaway  had  more  of 
a  tropical  aspect  than  any  which  I  had  yet  seen  in  the  United 
States.  Several  distinct  species  of  palmetto,  or  fan  palm,  were 
common,  as  also  the  tree,  or  cabbage  palm,  a  noble  species,  whioli 

Fig.  6. 


Chameerops  Palmttto. 
Cabhage  Palm,  or  Tall  Palmetto,  Skiddaway  Island,  Oeorgim. 

I  had  never  seen  before.  In  some  of  the  cotton-fields  many  in- 
dividuals were  growing  singly,  having  been  planted  at  regular  in- 
tervals to  the  exclusion  of  all  other  trees,  and  were  from  twenty- 
five  to  forty  feet  in  height.  The  trunk  bulges  at  the  base,  above 
which  it  is  usually  about  one  foot  in  diameter,  and  of  the  same 
size  throughout,  or  rather  increasing  upward.     At  the  top  the 


X. 


■m 


236 


BIRDS. 


[Chap.  XVII. 


leaves  spread  out  on  all  sides,  as  in  other  fan  palms.     Those 
which  have  fallen  offflo  not  leave  separate  scars  on  the  trunk 
but  rings  are  formed  hy  their  bases.     The  cabbage  of  the  younr^ 
palm  IS  used  as  a  vegetable,  but  when  this  part  is  cut  ofi;  the 
plant  18  killed.     I  saw  sections  of  the  wood,  and  the  structure  of 
It  resembles  that  of  true  palms.     It  is  said  by  Elliott  to  be  inval- 
uable  lor  submarine  construction,  as  it  is  never  atta.  Ik  r    •  •  +he 
ship-worm,  or  Teredo  ouivalis.     This  tree  flourishes   ■        olay 
soil,  and  IS  of  slow  growth.      It  requires  the  sea  air,  and  nas  not 
suflered  from  the  late  severe  frost.      We  saw  some  plants  twelve 
years  old.  and  others  which  in  fifty  years  had  attained  a  height 
of  about  twenty  or  twenty-five  feet.     Such  as  have  reached  forty 
ieet  are  supposed  to  be  at  least  a  century  old.     In  those  fields 
where  the  negroes  were  at  work,  and  where  the  cotton  plants 
were  still  standing  five  or  six  feet  high,  with  no  other  trees  ex- 
cept  these  palms,  I  cotild  well  imagine  myself  in  the  tropics. 
We  put  up  many  birds,  the  names  of  which  were  all  familiar  to 
Dr.   i.e  Conte;    among  others  the  Virginian  partridge  (Ortyx 
virgtmana),  the  rook  {Cm-vus  an.ertcanus),  nearly  resembling 
our  European  species,  not  only  in  plumage  but  in  its  note,  the 
marsh  hawk  (Cirais  ajanezcs),  the  snowy  heron  (Ardea  can- 
didzssima),  the  bald-headed  eagle,  the  summer  duck,  and  meadow 
lark.      We  also  heard  the  mocking-bird  in  the  woods.     As  we 
were  entering  a  barn,  a  screech-owl  (Bubo  asio,  Lin.)  flew  out 
nearly  in  the  face  of  one  of  the  party.     When  we  came  to  a  tree 
partially  barked  by  lightning,  I  asked  Dr.  Le  Conte  whether  he 
adopted  the  theory  that  this  decortication  was  caused  by  steam  • 
the  sap  or  juices  of  the  tree,  immediately  under  the  bark,  beinff 
suddenly  cx,nverted  by  the  heat  of  the  electric  fluid  into  vapor 
He  said  that  lightning  was  so  common  here,  that  he  had  had 
opportunities  of  verifying  this  hypothesis  by  observing  that  the 
steam  or  small  cloud  of  smoke,  as  it  is  commonly  called,  which 
js  produced  when  a  tree  is  struck,  disappears  immediately,  as  if 
by  condensation.  ^ 

There  are  decided  proofs  on  the  coast  of  Georgia  of  changes  in 
the  level  of  the  land,  in  times  geologically  modern,  and  I  shall 
atterward  mention  the  stumps  of  trees  below  the  sea-level,  at  the 


Chap.  XVII] 


ALLIGATORS. 


23? 


mouth  of  the  Altamaha  ri.er,  in  proof  of  a  former  subsidence  • 
but  a  stranger  is  m  great  danger  of  being  deceived,  because  the 

ZT::r:'  'T^  i'l^^'^^^^y  (^'--^  ^-^«)'  ^as  tap-roots  ' 
large  as  the  trunk,  which  run  down  vertically  for  seven  or  eight 
leet.  without  any  sensible  diminution  in  size.     At  the  depth  of 
about  ten  feet  below  the  surface  this  root  sends  offnumL 

Iwe'lf/"".^"""^"^'  ^"'  ^^^"  *^^  -^  ^-  advance?  aL 
erect,  rnd  become  covered  with  barnacles  and  oysters.     When  so 

LTclrf  ;.''r  ^T'T'y  ^''^  ^PP^^^--  of  a  submarine 
forest,  caused  by  the  sinking  down  of  land.     A  geologist,  who  is 

on  his  guard  against  being  deceived  by  the  undermining  of  a  cliff, 

and  the  consequent  sliding  down  and  submergence  of  land  covered 

with  Lees  which  remam  vertical,  may  yet  be  misled  by  finding 

these  large  tap-roots  standing  upright  under  water.  ^ 

moutVof.f'^Q*"''  ^"V?l  ^^""*^"^*  ^"  '^'  swamps  near  the 
mouth  of  the  Savannah.  I  heard  much  of  their  habits,  and  was 

TZ     A    r\'''*  P^^^'"  ^^^  '^''^  ^''  ^i*^  -  tiieir  stlm! 
achs.  which  they  have  swallowed  to  aid  their  digestion,  as  birds 
eat  sand  and  gravel  to  assist  the  mechanical  action  of  the  gizzard 
The  peculiar  conformation  of  the  alligator's  stomach  confirms 

lalTTn  ^.V^'  "*'  '^  ""^^  °^*^^  «^^  Indian  villages  who" 
baskets  full  of  flint  arrow-heads  have  been  picked  up.Ld  some 
of  these,  much  worn  and  rubbed,  have  been  taken  out  of  the 
stomachs  of  these  reptiles. 

The  extraordinary  tenacity  of  hfe  manifested  by  the  alligator 
when  seriously  mutilated,  led  Dr.  Le  Conte  to  make  a  serL  oJ 
experiments,  with  a  view  of  throwing  light  on  the  philosophy  of 

A  young  alligator  was  decapitated  at  the  point  where  the  neck 

of  blood  flowed  from  the  wound.  The  jaws  of  the  detached  head 
still  snapped  at  any  thing  which  touched  the  tongue  or  lining 
membrane  of  the  mouth.  Af  .  the  convulsions  produced  by  Z 
capitatu)n  had  subsided,  the  trunk  of  the  animal  remained  in  a 
state  of  torpor  resembling  profound  sleep.  But  when  pricked  or 
pinched  on  the  sides,  the  creature  would  scratch  the  spot,  some- 


238 


GROVE  OF  LIVE  OAKS. 


[Ohaf.  XVII 


times  with  the  fore,  and  soraetimeg  with  the  hind  foot,  according 
to  the  situation  of  the  injury  inflicted.     These  movements  of  the 
limbs  were    promptly  and    determinately  performed,   and  were 
always  confined  to  the  members  on  the  side  of  the  irritating 
cause.     If  touched  below  the  posterior  extremity  on  the  thick 
portion  of  the  tail,  he  would  slowly  and  deliberately  draw  up 
the  hind  ibot,  and  scratch  the  part,  and  would  use  considerable 
force  in  pushing  aside  the  ofiending  object.     These  experiments 
were  repeatedly  performed,  and  always  with  the  same  results, 
appearing  to  prove  that  the  creature  could  not  have  been  totally 
devoid  of  sensation  and  consciousness.     Dr.  Le  Conte  concludes, 
therefore,  that,  although  in  man  and  the  more  highly  organized 
vertebrata,  volition  is  seated  in  the  brain,  or  encephalus,  this 
function  in  reptiles  must  extend  over  the  whole  spinal  cord,  or 
cerebro-spinal  axis.     Some,  however,  may  contend  that  the  mo- 
tions observed  are  meiiely  spasmodic  and  involuntary,  like  sneez- 
ing, the  necessary  results  of  certain  physical  conditions  of  the 
nervous  system,  and  not  guided  in  any  way  by  the  mind.     If  so, 
it  can  not  be  denied  that  they  have  all  the  appearance  of  being 
produced  with  a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  end  in  view,  and  to  be 
directed  peculiarly  to  that  end ;  so  that,  if  we  embrace  the  hy- 
pothesis that  they  supervene  simply  on  the  application  of  stimuli, 
without  any  sensations  being  carried  to  the  brain,  and  without 
any  co-operation  of  the  mind,  must  we  not  in  that  case  suspect 
that  a  largo  proportion  of  the  actions  of  quadrupeds,  usually 
attributed  to  the  control  of  the  will,  may  in  like  manner  be  per- 
formed without  consciousness  or  volition  ?* 

When  we  got  back  to  Savannah,  I  found  my  wife  just  returned 
from  Bonaventure,  about  four  miles  distant,  where  she  had  ac- 
companied a  lady  on  a  drive  to  see  a  magnificent  grove  of  live 
oaks,  the  branches  of  which,  arching  over  head,  form  a  splendid 
aisle.  It  was  formerly  the  fashion  of  the  planters  of  the  Caro- 
linap  and  Georgia,  to  make  summer  tours  in  the  northern 
states,  or  stay  in  watering-places  there  ;  but  they  are  now  in  the 
habit  of  visiting  the*  upland  region  of  the  Alleghanies  in  theii 

*  See  a  paper  by  J.  Le  Conte,  New  York  Journal  of  Medicine,  Nov 
1845,  p.  335. 


Chap.  XVII.]        SLAVBi    TAKEN  TO  FREE  STATES. 


S39 


own  states,  and  speak  enthusiastically  of  the  beauty  and  grandeur 
of  the  scenery.  Their  intercourse  with  the  north  was  useful  in 
giving  them  new  ideas,  and  showing  them  what  rapid  progress 
civilization  is  making  there ;  but  they  have  been  deterred  from 
traveling  there  of  late,  owing,  as  they  tell  me,  to  the  conduct  of 
the  abolitionists  toward  the  negro  servants  whom  they  take  with 
them. 

Sometimes  a  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  is  served,  and  the  colored 
servant  is  carried  before  a  magistrate,  on  the  plea  that  he  or  she 
are  detained  against  their  will.  Even  where  they  have  firmly 
declared  their  wish  to  return  to  their  owners,  they  have  been 
often  unsettled  in  their  ideas,  and  less  contented  afterward  wi*'- 
their  conditi(tn. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Savannah  to  Darien. — Anti-Slavery  Meetings  discussed.— War  wjth  En- 
gland. — Landing  at  Darien. — Crackers. — Scenery  on  Altaraaha  River. 
— Negro  Boatmen  singing. — Marsh  Blackbird  in  Rico  Grounds. — Hospi- 
tality  of  Southern  Planters.  —  New  Clearing  and  Natural  Rotation  of 
Trees.  —  Birds.  —  Shrike  and  Kingfisher.  —  Excursion  to  St.  Simon's 
Island. — Butler's  Island  and  Negroes. — Stumps  of  Trees  in  Salt  Marshes 
proving  Subsidence  of  Land. — Alligator  sees. — Their  Nests  and  Habits. 
Their  Fear  of  Porpoises. — Indian  Shell  Mound  on  St.  Simon's  Island. — 
Date-palm,  Orange,  Lemon,  and  Olive  Trees. — Hurricanes. — V,  nt  to 
outermost  Barrier  Island. — Sea  Shells  on  Beach. — Negro  Maid-Servants. 

Dec.  31,  1845 — On  the  last  day  of  the  year  we  sailed  in  a 
steamer  from  Savamiah  to  Darien,  in  Georgia,  about  125  miles 
farther  south,  skirting  a  low  coast,  and  having  the  Gulf-stream 
about  sixty  miles  to  the  eastward  of  us.     Our  fellow-passengers 
consisted  of  planters,  with  several  mercantile  men  from  northern 
states.     The  latter   usually  maintained  a  prudent   reserve    on 
politics ;   yet  one  or  two  warm  discussions  arose,  in  which  not 
only  the  chances  of  war  with  England,  and  the  policy  of  the 
party  now  in  power,  but  the  more  exciting  topic  of  slavery,  and 
the  doings  at   a  recent  anti-slavery  meeting  in  Exeter  Hall, 
London,  were  spoken  of.      I  was  told  by  a  fellow-passenger,  that 
some  of  the  Georgian  planters  who  are  declaiming  most  vehe- 
mently against  Mr.  Polk  for  so  nearly  drawin;;^  them  into  a  war 
with  Great  Britain,  were  his  warmest  supporters  in  the  late 
presidential  election.     «'  They  are  justly  punished,"  he  said,  "  for 
voting  against  their  principles.      Although  not  belonging  to  the 
democratic  party,  they  went  for  Polk  in  order  that  Texas  might 
be  annexed ;  and  now  that  they  he   e  carried  that  point,  their 
imaginations  are  haunted  with  the  image  of  the  cotton  trade 
paralyzed,  an  English  fleet  ravaging  the  coast  an''  carrying  away 
their  negroes,  as  in  the  last  war,  and,  worst  of  all,  the  abolition- 
ists of  the  north  looking  on  -with  the  utmost  complacency  at  their 
ruin."     One  of,  the  most  moderate  of  the  planters,  with  whom  I 
conversed  apart,  told  me  that  the  official  avowal  of  the  EngUsh 


Chap.  XVI A  J  ANTI-SLAVERY  MEETINGS. 


241 


government  tha  t  one  of  the  reasons  for  acknowledging  the  inde 
pendenco  of  Texas  was  its  tendency  to  promote  the  abolition 7 

anTEnJlil  Tl  ""'  'l  ^"^"^^^  *^^  P^^'^*-'  -^  increa  e  the 
anti-Enghsh  feelmg  u.  the  south.     He  also  observed,  that  any 

thing  like  foreign  dictation  or  intermeddhng  excited  k  sp^nt  of 

resistance  ...d  asked  whether  I  thought  the  emancipationTtho 

West  Indmn  slaves  would  have  been  accelerated  b/meeUngs  in 

then  .Til ''':." i''""^"^  *°  ^^^°"^°*«  *^-*  measure  'V'a 
then  adverted  to  the  letters  lately  published  by  Mr.  Colman  on 

Enghsh  agriculture,  in  which  the  poverty,  7/norunce   a^S  st« 

tionary  condition  of  the  British  pelTantry^'ar;  paiS  Z\Z 

vmd  colors.     Ae  also  cited  Lord  Ashley's'speeches  on  the  m  s 

IZ'^'t  ""'7^^""^  ^y  —  '^nd  boys  in  coal-mines. Td 
said  that  the  parliamentary  reports  on  the  wretched  state  of  the 
factory  children  in  England  had  been  largely  extracted  from  in 
their  papers,  to  show  that  the  orators  of  Exet.r  Hall  might  find 
abuses  enough  at  home  to  remedy,  without  declaiming  against 
the  wrongs  of  their  negroes,  whose  true  condition  and  prospec 
of  improvement  were  points  on  which  they  displayed  consummate 

added,  in  a  milder  tone.  that,  for  his  part,  he  thought  the  south! 
ern  planters  owed  a  debt  of  gratitude  to  England  for  setting  the 
example  to  American  philanthropists  of  making  pecuniary  com- 
pensation  to  thosa  whose  slaves  they  set  free 

When  I  had  leisure  ^o  think  over  this  conversation,  and  the 
hmt  conveyed  to  my  countrymen,  how  they  might  best  devote 
their  energies  toward  securing  the  progress  of  thelauoring  classes 
at  horne,  It  occurred  to  me  that  some  of  Channing's  discourses 
against  slavery  might  be  useful  to  a  minister  who  should  have 
the  patriotism  to  revive  the  measure  for  educating  the  factory 
children,  proj^sed  m  1843  by  Sir  James  Graham  and  lost  in 
consequence  of  the  disputes  between  the  Church  and  the  Dissent- 

ft  7  ^'''^T'.^''^  '^^  ^'^'''  ^''''  "^  *^«  «^°<l"«^t  appeal  of 
the  New  England  orator  would  become  appropriate :— . 


VOL.  I — L 


"  Mutate  nomine  de  te 
Fabula  narratur." 


:l 


242 


WAR  WITH  ENGLAND. 


[6nAP.  XVllI. 


"  Every  man,"  says  Channing,  in  his  argument  against  slavery, 
"  has  a  right  to  exercise  and  invigorate  his  iutoliect,  and  wlio- 
ever  obstructs  or  quenches  the  intellectual  life  in  another,  inflicts 
a  grievous  and  irreparable  wrong."*  "  Let  not  the  sac  redness 
of  individual  man  be  forgotten  in  the  feverish  pursuit  of  property. 
It  is  more  important  that  the  in  ividual  should  respect  himself, 
and  be  respected  by  others,  than  .at  national  wealth,  which  is 
not  the  end  of  society,  should  be  accumulated."!  "  He  (the 
slave)  must  form  no  plans  for  bettering  his  condition,  whatever 
be  his  capacities  ;  however  equal  to  great  improvements  of  his 
lot,  he  is  chained  for  life  to  the  same  unwearied  toil.  That  he 
should  yield  himself  to  intemperance  we  must  expect,  unused  to 
any  pleasures  but  those  of  sense."  "  We  are  told,"  says  the 
same  author,  "that  they  are  taught  religion,  that  they  hear  the 
voice  of  Christ,  and  read  in  his  cross  the  unutterable  worth  of 
their  spiritual  nature ;  but  the  greater  part  are  still  buried  in 
heathen  ignorance. "t 

"  They  may  be  free  from  care,  and  sure  of  future  support,  but 
their  future  is  not  brightened  by  images  of  joy ;  it  stretches  be- 
i'ore  them  sterile  and  monotonous,  sending  no  cheering  whisper  of 
a  better  lot."§ 

An  inhabitant  of  one  of  the  six  New  England  States,  or  of 
New  York,  where,  in  a  population  of  five  millions  of  souls,  one 
teacher  is  now  supplied  for  every  thirty  children,  may  be  en- 
titled to  address  this  language  to  the  southern  slave  owner ; 
but  does  the  state  of  the  working  classes,  whether  in  Great 
Britain  or  the  West  Indies,  authorize  us  to  assume  the  same 
tone  ? 

A  merchant  from  New  York  told  me,  that  in  '•  The  Union,"  a 
semi-official  journal  published  at  Washington,  and  supposed  to 
represent  the  views  of  the  cabinet,  an  article  had  just  appeared, 
headed,  <'  The  whole  of  Oregon  or  none,"  which  for  the  first  time 
gave  him  some  uneasiness.  "  A  war,"  he  said,  might  seem  too 
absurd  to  be  possible  ;  but  a  few  months  ago  he  had  thought  the 
election  of  Mr.  Polk  equally  impossible,  and  the  President  might 


*  Channiiig's  Works,  vol.  ii.  p.  35. 
t  Vol.  ii.  p.  94. 


t  Vol.  ii.  p.  44. 
..  §  Vol.  ii.  p.  89. 


Chap.  XVIII.] 


LANDING  AT  DAHIEN. 


343 


go  on  tampering  with  the  popular  passions,  till  ho  could  not  con- 
trol them.      The  iiresidenual  election  would  liave  ended  diiliir- 
ently,"  he  affirmed,  "  but  for  5000  fraudulent  votes  given  in  the 
city  of  New  York."      I  asked  if  he  thought  the  people  would 
enter  with  spirit  into  a  war  Ibr  which  they  had  made  no  prep, 
aration.      »  It  would  depend,"  he  said,  "  on  the  policy  of  En- 
gland.    If  she  made  predatory  and  bucaniering  descents  upon 
the  coast,  as  in  the  last  war,  or  attacked  some  of  the  great  east- 
ern sea-ports,  she  might  stir  up  the  whole  population  to  a  state 
of  frenzied  energy,  and  cause  them  to  make  great  sacrifices  ;  but 
if  she  put  forth  the  whole  strength  of  her  fleets  against  the  com- 
merce of  the  Union,  and  stood  on  the  defensive  in  Canada,  so  as 
to  protract  the  campaign,  and  cripple  their  revenues  derived  from 
customs,  the  people,  remembering  that  when  the  war  commenced, 
the  cabinet  of  St.  James's  and  the  English  press  were  pacific 
and  willing  to  come  to  a  compromise  about  Oregon,  would  be- 
come  impatient  of  direct  taxation,  and  turn  against  the  party 
which  had  plunged  them  into  hostihties." 

Dec.  31 — At  the  end  of  a  long  day's  sail,  our  steamer  land 
ed  us  safely  at  the  village  of  Darien,  on  the  sandy  banks  of 
the  river  Altamaha  (which  is  pronounced  Altamaha,  the   a's 
broad).     The  sky  was  clear,  and  th.    air  mild,  but  refreshing, 
and  we  were  told  that  we  must  walk  to  the  inn,  not  far  off. 
Five  negioes  were  very  officious  in  offering  their  services,  and 
four  of  them  at  length  adjusted  all  our  packages  on  their  backs. 
The  other,  having  nothing  else  to  do,  assumed  the  command  of 
the  party,  having  first  said  to  me,  ««If  you  not  ready,  we  will 
hesitate  for  half  an  hour."    We  passed  under  some  of  the  noblest 
evergreen  oaks  I  had  yet  seen,  their  large  picturesque  roots  spread- 
ing on  all  sides,  half  out  of  the  loose,  sandy  soil,  and  their  boughs 
hung  with  unusually  long  weepers  of  Spanish  moss.    When  I  had 
paid  our  four  porters,  the  one  who  had  gone  first,  assumkg  an 
air  of  great  importance,  "hoped  I  would  remember  the  pilot." 
As  the  inn  was  almost  in  sight  from  the  landing,  and  our  course 
a  direct  one  in  a  bright  moonlight  night,  and  all  the  men  quite 
familiar  with  every  step  of  the  way,  we  were  not  a  little  diverted 
at  the  notion  of  paying  for  a  guide,  but  the  good-humored  coun- 


244 


SCENEEY  ON  ALTAMAHA. 


[Chap.  XVIII. 


tenance  of  the  pilot  made  his  appeal  irresistible.  The  bed  at  our 
humble  inn  was  clean,  but  next  morning  we  were  annoyed  by 
having  to  sit  down  to  breakfast  with  a  poor  white  family,  to 
whom  the  same  compliment  could  not  be  paid— a  man  and  his 
wife  and  four  children,  belonging  to  the  class  called  "  crackers" 
in  Georgia.  The  etymology  of  this  word  is  rather  uncertain, 
some  deriving  it  from  the  long  whips  used  by  the  wagoners. 
They  are  a  class  of  small  proprietors,  who  seem  to  acquire  slov 
enly  habits  from  dependence  on  slaves,  of  whom  they  can  main- 
tain but  few. 

The  next  morning,  while  we  were  standing  on  the  river's 
bank,  we  were  joined  by  Mr.  Hamilton  Couper,  with  whom  I 
had  corresponded  on  geological  matters,  and  whom  I  have  already 
mentioned  as  the  donor  of  a  splendid  collection  of  fossil  remains 
to  the  museum  at  Washington,  and,  I  may  add,  of  other  like 
treasures  to  that  of  Philadelphia.  He  came  down  the  river  to 
meet  us  in  a  long  canoe,  hollowed  out  of  the  trunk  of  a  single 
cypress,  and  rowed  by  six  negroes,  who  were  singing  loudly,  and 
keeping  time  to  the  stroke  of  their  oars.  He  brought  us  a  packet 
of  letters  from  England,  which  had  been  sent  to  his  house,  a 
welcome  New  Year's  gift ;  and  when  we  had  glanced  over  their 
contents,  we  entered  the  boat  and  began  to  ascend  the  Alta- 
maha. 

The  river  was  fringed  on  both  sides  with  tall  canes  and  with 
the  cypress  (^Cupressus  disticha),  and  many  other  trees,  still 
leafless,  which,  being  hung  with  gray  moss,  gave  a  somber  tone 
to  the  scenery  at  this  season,  in  spite  of  the  green  leaves  of  sev- 
eral species  of  laurel,  myrtle,  and  magnolia.  But  wherever  there 
was  a  break  in  the  fringe  of  trees,  which  flourished  luxuriantly 
in  the  swamps  bordering  the  river,  a  forest  of  evergreen  pines 
was  seen  in  the  back  ground.  For  many  a  mile  we  saw  no 
habitations,  and  the  solitude  was  profound ;  but  our  bla,ck  oars- 
men made  the  woods  echo  to  their  song.  One  of  them  taking 
the  lead,  first  improvised  a  verse,  paying  compliments  to  his  mas- 
ter's family,  and  to  a  celebrated  black  beauty  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, who  was  compared  to  the  "  red  bird."  The  other  five 
then  joined  in  chorus,  always  repeating  the  same  words.     Occa- 


Ohap.  XVIII.] 


SOUTHERN  PLANTERS. 


24.5 


kwWoh  7        "^  "^  'i'^T'  *""°^*  '^'"^  ^y  '^'  Methodists. 
m  which  the  most  sacred  subjects  were  handled  with  strange 

rt';l?an^^  '^  °"  ^"^'  ^"''  "'^^^  ^^"°--^  ^  ^-  ^i^^y.  al. 

Ab^uT  fill'  "*  i'^'  .^'^*  "'  "°'*^'''"  ^"^^  ''f  *^«   Altamaha. 
About  fifteer.  m.les  above  it.  on  the  opposite  bank,  we  came  to 

Hopeton.  the  residence  of  Mr.  H.  Couper.  having  first  passed 

from  the  river  into  a  canal,  which  traversed  the  low  rice  fields 

Here  we  put  up  prodigious  flights  of  the  marsh  blackbird  (Aje- 

lams  phcemceus),  sometimes  called  the  red-winged  starling  be- 

Zf  \v,      f'"^  '"''T^  *^°"'^"'*'  °^  '^'"^  ^'^  i^  rapid  motion  at 
once,  they  darken  the  air  hke  a  cloud,  and  then,  when  the  whole 

of  them  suddenly  turn  their  wings  edgeways,  the  cloud  vanishes 
to  reappear  as  instantaneously  the  next  moment.     Mr   Couper 
encourages  these  birds,  as  they  eat  up  all  the  loose  grains  of  rice 
scattered  over  the  field  after  the  harvest  has  been  gathered  in. 
If  these  seeds  are  left,  they  spring  up  the  year  following,  pro- 
ducing what  IS  called  volunteer  rice,  always  of  inferior  quality  to 
that  which  IS  regularly  sown.      From  the  rice  grounds  we  walked 
up  a  bank  to  a  level  table  land,  composed  of  sand,  a  few  vards 
above  the  river,  and  covered  with  pines  and  a  mixture  of  scrub 
oak.      Here,  in  this  genial  climate,  there  are  £ome  wild  flowers 
m  bloom  every  day  of  the  year.     On  this  higher  level,  near  the 
slope  whioh  faces  the  rice  fields  and  the  river   stands  the  house 

?T*^J'  T^''^  "^^  'P^^*  ^"'^  t™«  very  agreeably  for  a  fort- 
night.  Much  has  been  said  in  praise  of  the  hospitality  of  the 
southern  planter,  but  they  alone  who  have  traveled  in  the  south- 
ern states,  can  appreciate  the  perfect  ease  and  politeness  with 
which  a  stranger  is  made  to  feel  himself  at  home.  Horses  car- 
nages, boats,  servants,  are  all  at  his  disposal.  Even  his 'little 
comforts  are  thought  of,  and  every  thing  is  done  as  heartily  and 
naturally  as  if  no  obligation  were  conferred.  When  northerners 
who  are  not  very  rich  receive  guests  in  the  country,  where  do- 
mestic servants  are  few  and  expensive,  they  are  often  compelled. 
If  they  would  msure  the  comfort  of  their  visitors,  to  perform  me- 


ml 


!48 


ROTATION  OF  TREES. 


[Chap.  XVIII. 


nial  offices  themselves.  The  sacrifices,  therefore,  made  by  the 
planter,  are  comparatively  small,  since  he  has  a  well-trained  es- 
tablishment of  servants,  and  his  habitual  style  of  living  is  so  free 
and  liberal,  that  the  expense  of  a  few  additional  inra  ites  in  the 
family  is  scarcely  felt.  Still  there  is  a  warm  and  generous  open- 
ness of  character  in  the  southerners,  which  mere  wealth  and  a 
retinue  of  servants  cannot  give ;  and  they  have  often  a  dignity  of 
manner,  without  stiffness,  which  is  most  agreeable. 

The  landed  proprietors  here  visit  each  other  in  the  style  of 
English  country  geiltlemen,  sometimes  dining  out  with  their 
families  and  returning  at  night,  or,  if  the  distance  be  great,  re- 
rnaining  to  sleep  and  coming  home  the  next  morning.  A  con- 
siderable part  of  their  food  is  derived  from  the  produce  of  the 
land  ;  but,  as  their  houses  are  usually  distant  from  large  towns, 
they  keep  large  stores  of  groceries  and  of  clothing,  as  is  the 
custom  in  country  houses  in  some  parts  of  Scdtland. 

Near  the  house  of  Hopeton  there  was  a  clearing  in  the  forest, 
exhibiting  a  fine  illustration  of  that  natural  rotation  of  crops, 
which  excites,  not  without  reason,  the  surprise  of  every  one  who 
sees  it  for  the  first  time,  and  the  true  cause  of  which  is  still  im- 
perfectly understood.      The  trees  which  had  been  cut  down  were 
full-grown  pines  {Pinus  austmlis),   of  which  the  surrounding 
wood  consists,  and  which  might  have  gone  on  for  centuries,  one 
generation  after,  another,  if  their  growth  had  not  been  interfered 
with.     But  now  they  are  succeeded  by  a  crop  of  young  oaks, 
and  we  naturally  ask,  whence  came  the  acorns,  and  how  were 
they  sown  here  in  such  numbers  ?      It  seems  that  the  jay  [Gar- 
rulus  cristatus)  has  a  propensity  to  bury  acorns  and  various 
grains  in  the  ground,  forgetting  to  return  and  devour  them.    The 
rook,  also  (Carvus  americanus),  does  the  same,  and  so  do  some 
squirrels  and  other  Rodentia  ;  and  they  plant  them  so  deep,  that 
they  will  not  shoot  unless  the  air  and  the  sun's  rays  can  pene- 
trate freely  into  the  soil,  as  when  the  shade  of  the  pine  trees  has 
been  entirely  removed.     It  must  occasionally  happen,  that  birds 
or  quadrupeds,  which  might  otherwise  have  returned  to  feed  on 
the  hidden  treasure,  ape  killed  by  some  one  of  their  numerous 
enemies.     But  as  the  seeds  of  pines  must  be  infinitely  more 


UHAP.    XVIII.] 


SHRIKE  AND  KINGFISHER. 


247 


In 


abundant  than  the  acorns,  we  have  still  to  explain  what  prin- 
ciple in  vegetable  life  favors  the  rotation.     Lietig  adopts  De 
CandoUe's  theory,  as  most  probable.      He  supposes  that  the  roots 
of  plants  imbibe  soluble  matter  of  every  kind  from  the  soil,  and 
absorb  many  substances  not  adapted  for  their  nutrition,  which 
are  subsequently  expelled  by  the  roots,  and  returned  to  the  soil 
as  excrements. .   Now,  as  excrements  cannot  be  assimilated  by 
the  plant  which  ejected  them,  the  more  of  these  matters  the  soil 
contains,  the  less  fertile  must  it  become  for  plants  of  the  same 
species.     These  exudations,  however,  may  be  capable  of  assimi- 
lation by  another  perfectly  different  kind  or  family  of  plants, 
which  would  flourish  while  taking  them  up  from  the  soil,  and 
render  the  soil,  in  time,  again  fertile  for  the  first  plants.     "  Dur- 
ing a  fallow,"  says  Liebig,  "  the  action  of  the  sun  and  atmos- 
phere, especially   if  not   intercepted   by  the  growth   of  weeds, 
causes  the  decomposition  of  the   excrementitious   matters,   and 
converts  the  soil  into  humus  or  vegetable  mold,  restoring  fer- 
tility."* 

In  one  part  of  the  pine  forest  I  saw  the  Liquidambar  tree 
growing  vigorously  fifty  feet  high,  with  a  bark  resembling  cork. 
The  bird  of  brightest  plumage  was  the  one  called  the  red  bird, 
or  red  cardinal  {Loxia  cardinalis),  which  has  a  full,  clear,  and 
mellow  note,  though  no  variety  of  song.     It  frequents  bushes  in 
the  neighborhood  of  houses,  where  it  comes  to  be  fed,  but  will 
not  thrive  in  captivity.     One  day,  a  son  of  Mr.  Couper's  brought 
us  a  hen  cardinal  bird  and  a  wild  partridge,  both  taken  unin- 
jured in  a  snare.      It  was  amusing  to  contrast  the  extreme  fierce- 
ness of  the  cardinal  with  the  mildness  and  gentleness  of  the 
partridge.      That  insects,  birds,   and  quadrupeds,   of  the   same 
genera,  but  of  distinct  species,   discharge  similar  functions  in 
America  and  Europe,  is  well  known.     My  attention  was  called 
here  to  some  thorny  bushes,  on  which  the  shrike  or  loggerhead 
(Lanius  ludovicianus)  had  impaled  small    lizards,   frogs,   and 
beetles,  just  as  I  have  seen  mice  and  insects  fixed  on  thorns  by 
our  English  shrikes.     Here,  also,  the  marshes  near  the  liver  are 
frequented  by  the  belted  kingfisher  {Alcedo  alcyon),  resembling 
*  Liebig's  Organic  Chemistry,  pt.  i.  ch.  8. 


■ 


iii  i'  I 

'ii 


•m 


i*i 


248 


VISIT  TO  ST.  SIMON'S. 


[Chap.  XVIII. 


in  plumage,  though  not  so  brilliant  as  the  English  kingfisher, 
which  yet  lingers,  in  spite  of  persecution,  in  the  reedy  islands  of 
the  Thames  above  London.  Mr.  Couper  tells  me,  that  the 
American  bird  dives  after  its  prey,  like  that  of  Europe,  and  will 
often  carry  a  fish,  not  much  smaller  than  itself,  and  beat  it 
against  the  stump  of  a  tree,  first  on  one  side,  then  on  the  other, 
till  every  bone  in  its  body  is  broken ;  it  can  then  swallow  it,  in 
spite  of  its  size. 

A  few  days  after  our  arrival  (January  4,  1846),  Mr.  Couper 
took  us  in  a  canoe  down  the  river  from  Hopeton  to  one  of  the 
sea-islands,  called  St.  Simon's,  fifteen  miles  distant,  to  visit  his 
summer  residence,  and  to  give  me  an  opportunity  of  exploring 
the  geology  of  the  coast  and  adjoining  low  country.  We  saw, 
on  the  banks  of  the  river,  the  Magnolia  glauca,  attaining  a 
height  of  thirty  feet,  instead  of  being  only  ten  feet  high,  as°  in 
the  swamps  of  New  England.  The  gum  tree  {Nyssa  aquatica), 
out  of  leaf  at  this  season,  was  conspicuous,  from  the  manner  in 
which  the  smooth  trunk  swells  out  at  the  base,  being  partially 
hollow  in  the  interior,  so  that  it  is  often  used  by  the  negroes 
for  bee-hives.  Jays  and  blue-birds  were  very  abundant,  and 
there  were  several  large  hawks'  nests  on  the  tops  of  tall  dead 
trees. 

Among  the  zoological  characteristics  of  the  North  American 
rivers,  none  is  more  remarkable  than  the  variety  of  species  of 
shells  of  the  genus  Unio,  or  fresh-water  mussel,  which  inhabit 
them.  Every  great  stream  yields  some  new  forms,  and  Mr. 
.  Couper  has  already  discovered  in  the  Altamaha  no  less  than 
sixt-'in  species  before  unknown ;  one  of  these,  Unio  sjrinosus, 
has  a  singular  appearance,  being  armed  with  spines,  standing 
out  horizontally  from  the  shell,  and  probably  acting  as  a  defense 
against  some  enemy. 

On  our  way  we  landed  on  Butler's  Island,  where  the  banks 
of  the  river,  as  is  usual  in  deltas,  are  higher  than  the  ground 
immediately  behind  them.  They  are  here  adorned  with  orange 
trees,  loaded  with  golden  fruit,  and  very  ornamental.  We  saw 
ricks  of  rice  raised  on  props  five  feet  high,  to  protect  them  from 
the  50a,  which,  during  hurricanes,  has  been  known  to  rise  five  or 


Chap.  XVIIL] 


BUTLER'S  island: 


249 


BIX  feet.  The  negro  houses  were  neat,  and  whitewashed,  all 
floored  with  wood,  each  with  an  apartment  called  the  hall  twc 
sleepng-rooms,  and  a  loft  for  the  children ;  but  it  is  evident'  that 
on  these  rice  farms,  where  the  negroes  associate  with  scarcely 
any  whites,  except  the  overseer  and  his  family,  and  have  but 
httle  intercourse  with  the  slaves  of  other  estates,  they  must  re- 
mam  far  more  stationary  than  where,  as  in  a  large  part  ot 
Georgia,  they  are  about  equal  in  number  to  the  whites,  or  even 

b°Zv    "^r'^      ^^'  '^'^'''''  "^°^^°^^^'  i"  the  interior,  are 
healthier  than  those  m  rice  plantations,  and  multiply  faster,  al- 

Z^a\     1  "^^J^^'^^ds  are  salubrious  to  the  negroes  as  com-^ 
pared  to  the  whites.     In  this  lower  region  the  increase  of  the*' 
slaves  IS  rapid,  for  they  are  well  fed.  fitted  for  a  southern  cli- 
mate and  free  from  care,  partly,  no  doubt,  because  of  their  low 
mental  development,  and  partly  because  they  and  their  children 
are  secured  from  want.     Such  advantages,  however,  would  be 

IJl  ^\^  '  r  """f"""^  *^'"'  P'°"^°'  '^  th^y  we^e  overworked 
•  and  harshly  treated. 

As  we  approached  the  sea  and  the  brackish  water,  the  wood 
bordering    the    river  began  first  to  grow    dwarfish,    and   then 
lowering  suddenly,  to  give  place  entirely  to  reeds ;  but  still  we 
saw  the  buried  stumps  and  stools  of  the  cypress  and  pine  con- 
tmmng  to  show  themselves  in  every  section  of  the  bank,  main- 
taming  the  upright  position  in  which  they  originally  grew      The 
occurrence  of  these  in  the  salt  marshes  clearly  demonstrates  that 
trees  once  flourished  where  they  would  now  be  immediately  killed 
by  the  salt  water      There  must  have  been  a  change  in  the  rel- 
ative  level  of  land  and  sea,  to  account  for  their  growth  since 
even  above  the  commencement  of  the  brackish  water.  simUar 
stumps  are  visible  at  a  lower  level  than  the  present  high  tide 
and  covered  by  layers  of  sedimentary  matter,  on  which  tall  cv-' 
presses  and  other  trees  are  now  standing.    From  such  phenomena 
we  may  infer  the  following  sequence  of  events  :— first,  an  ancient 
lorest  was  submerged  several  feet,  and  the  sunk  trees  were  killed 
by  the  salt  water ;  they  then  rotted  away  down  to  the  water 
level  (a  long  operation),  after  which  layers  of  sand  were  thrown 
down  upon  the  stumps ;  and  finally,  when  the  surface  Lad  been 


250 


TREES  IN  SALT  MARSHES. 


[Chap.  XVIII. 


raised  by  fluviatile  sediment,  as  in  a  delta,  a  new  forest  grew  nj,' 
over  the  ruins  of  the  old  one. 

I  have  said  that  the  decay  of  such  timber  is  slow,  for  I  saw 
cypresses  at  Hopeton,  which  had  been  purposely  killed  by  girdling 
or  cutting  away  a  ring  of  bark,  which  stood  erect  on  the  borders 
of  the  rice  grounds  after  thirty  years,  and  bid  fair  to  last  for 
many  a  year  to  come.  It  does  no  small"  credit  to  the  sagacity 
of  Bartram,  the  botanist,  that  he  should  have  remarked,  when 
writing  in  1792,  that  the  low,  flat  islands  on  the  coast,  as  well 
as  the  salt  marshes  and  adjoining  sandy  region,  through  which 
,.so  many  rivers  wind,  and  which  afibrd  so  secure  a  navigation  for 
schooners,  boats,  and  canoes,  may  be  a  step  in  advance  gained 
by  the  continent  on  the  Atlantic  in  modern  times.  "  But  if  so," 
he  adds,  "it  is  still  clear  that,  at  a  period  immediately  preceding, 
the  same  region  of  low  land  stretched  still  farther  out  to  sea." 
On  the  latter  subject  his  words  are  so  much  to  the  point,  as  to 
deserve  being  quoted  : — 

"  It  Seems  evident,  even  to  demonstration,  that  those  salt 
marshes  adjoining  the  coast  of  the  main,  and  the  reedy  and 
grassy  islands  and  marshes  in  the  rivers,  which  are  now  over- 
flowed at  every  tide,  were  formerly  high  swamps  of  firm  land, 
aflbrding  forests  of  cypress,  tupelo,  magnolia  grandiflora,  oak, 
ash,  sweet  bay,  and  other  timber  trees,  the  same  as  are  now 
growing  on  the  river  swamps,  whose  surface  is  two  feet  or  more 
above  the  spring  tides  that  flow  at  this  day.  And  it  is  plainly 
to  be  seen  by  every  planter  along  the  coast  of  Carolina,  Georgia, 
and  Florida,  to  the  Mississippi,  when  they  bank  in  these  grassy 
tide  marshes  for  cultivation,  that  they  can  not  sink  their  drains 
above  three  or  four  feet  below  the  surface,  before  they  come  to 
strata  of  cypress  stumps  and  other  trees,  as  close  together  as  they 
now  grow  in  the  swamps."* 

When  our  canoe  had  proceeded  into  the  brackish  water,  where 
the  river  banks  consisted  of  marsh  land  covered  with  a  tall  reed- 
like grass,  we  came  close  up  to  an  alligator,  about  nine  feet  long, 
basking  in.  the  sun.     Hjid  the  day  been  warmer,  he  would  not 

♦  W.  Bartram's  Travels  through  North  and  South  Carolina,  Georgia, 
&c.     London,  1792. 


Chap.  XVIII.]        ALLIGATOR'S  NEST  AND  HABITS. 


L»ol 


have  allowed  us  to  approach  so  near  to  him ;  for  these  reptiles 
are  much  shyer  than  formerly,  since  they  have  learnt  to  dread 
the  avenging  rifle  of  the  planter,  whose  stray  hogs  and  sporting 
iogs  they  often  devour.      About  ten  years  ago,  Mr.  Couper  tells 
us,  that  he  saw  200  of  them  together  in  St.  Mary's  River  in 
Florida,  extremely  fearless.     The  oldest  and  largest  individuals 
on  the  Altamaha  have  been   killed,  and  they  are  now  rarely 
twelve  feet  long,  and  never  exceed  sixteen  and  a  half  feet.     As 
almost  all  of  them  have  been  in  their  winter  retreats  ever  since 
the  fiost  of  last  month,  I  was  glad  that  we  had  surprised  one  in 
his  native  haunts,  and  seen  him  plunge  into  the  water  by  the 
Bide  of  our  boat.     When  I  first  read  Bartram's  account  of  alli- 
gators more  than  twenty  feet  long,  and  how  they  attacked  his 
boat  and  bellowed  hke  bulls,   and  made  a  sound   like   distant 
thunder,  I  suspected  him  of  exaggeration  ;  but  all  my  inquiries 
here  and  m  Louisiana  convinced  me  that  he  may  be  depended 
upon.     His  account  of  the  nests  which  they  build  in  the  marshes 
IS  perfectly  correct.      They  resemble  haycocks,  about  four  feet 
high,  and  five  feet  in  diameter  at  their  bases,  being  constructed 
with  mud,  grass,  and  herbage.      First  they  deposit  one  layer  of 
.  eggs  on  a  floor  of  mortar,  and  having  covered  this  with  a  second 
stratum  of  mud  and  herbage  eight  inches  thick,  lay  another  set 
of  eggs  upon  that,  and  so  on  to  the  top,  there  being  commonly 
from  one  hundred  to  two  hundred  eggs  in  a  nest.     With  their 
tails  they  then  beat  down  round  the  nest  the  dense  grass  and 
reeds,  five  feet  high,  to  prevent  the  approach  of  unseen  enemies. 
The  female  watches  her  eggs  until  they  are  all  hatched  by. the 
heat  of  the  sun,  and  then  takes  her  brood  under  her  care,  de- 
fending them,  and  providing  for  their  subsistence.*     Dr.  Luzen- 
berger,  of  New  Orleans,  told  me  that  he  once  packed  up  one  of 
these  nests,  with  the  eggs,  in  a  box  for  the  Museum  of  St.  Peters- 
burgh,  but  was  recommended,  before  he  closed  it,  to  see  that  there 
was  no  danger  of  any  of  the  eggs  being  hatched  on  the  voyage. 
On  opening  one,  a  young  alligator  walked  out,  and  was  soon  after 
followed  by  all  the  rest,  about  a  hundred,  which  he  fed  in  his  house, 
where  they  went  up  and  down  the  stairs,  whining  and  barking 

*  Bartram,  p.  126. 


252 


INDIAN  SHELL  MOUND. 


[Chap   XVIll 


like  young  puppies.  They  ate  voraciously,  yet  their  growth  was 
BO  slow,  as  to  confirm  him  in  the  common  opinion,  that  individ- 
uals which  have  attained  the  largest  size  are  of  very  great  age ; 
though  whether  they  live  for  three  centuries,  as  some  pretend! 
must  be  decided  by  future  observations. 

Mr.  Couper  told  me  that,  in  the  summer  of  1845,  he  saw  a 
shoal  of  porpoises  coming  up  to  that  part  of  the  Altamaha  where 
the  fresh  and  salt  water  meet,  a  space  about  a  mile  in  length, 
the  favorite  fishing  ground  of  the  alligators,  where  there  is  brack- 
ish water,  which  shifts  its  place  according  to  the  varying  strength 
of  the  river  and  the  tide.  Here  were  seen  about  fifty  alligators, 
each  with  head  and  neck  raised  above  water,  looking  down  the 
stream  at  their  eneuues.  before  whom  they  had  fled,  terror- 
stricken,  and  expecting  an  attack.  The  porpoises,  no  more  than 
a  dozen  in  number,  moved  on  in  two  ranks,  and  were  evidently 
complete  masters  of  the  field.  So  powerful,  indeed,  are  they, 
that  they  have  been  known  to  chase  a  large  alligator  to  the  bank,' 
and,  pitting  their  snouts  under  his  belly,  toss  him  ashore. 

We  landed  on  the  northeast  end  of  St.  Simon's  Island,  at  Can- 
non's  Point,  where  we  were  gratified  by  the  sight  of  a  curious 
monument  of  the  Indians,  the  largest  mound  of  shells  left  by  the 
aborigines  in  any  one  of  the  sea  islands.     Here  are  no  less  than 
ten  acres  of  ground  elevated  in  some  places  ten  feet,  and  on  an 
average  over  the  whole  area,  five  feet  above  the  general  level, 
composed  throughout  that  depth  of  myriads  of  cast-away  oyster- 
shells,  with  some  mussels,  and  here  and  there  a  modiola  and 
helix.     They  who  have  seen  the  Monte  Testaceo  near  Eome, 
know  what  great  results  may  proceed  from  insignificant  causes! 
where  the  cumulative  power  of  time  has  been  at  work,  so  that  a 
hill  may  be  formed  out  of  the  broken  pottery  rejected  by  the  pop- 
ulation of  a  large  city.     To  them  it  will  appear  unnecessary  to 
infer,  as  some  antiquaries  have  done,  from  the  magnitude  of  these 
Inumn  mounds,  that  they  must  have  been  thrown  up  by  the  sea. 
In  refutation  of  such  an  hypothesis,  we  have  the  fact,'that  flint 
arrow-heads,  stone  axes,  and  fragments  of  Indian  pottery  have 
been  detected  throughout  the  mass.     The  shell-fish  heaped  up  at 
Cannon's  Point,  must,  from  their  nature,  have  been  caught  at  a 


Chap.  XVIII.J 


MR.  COUPER'S  VILLA. 


eS!l 


iiii 


distance,  on  one  of  the  outer  islands  ;  and  it  is  well  known  that 
the  Indians  were  in  the  habit  of  returning  with  what  they  had 
taken,  from  their  fishing  excursions  on  the  coast,  to  some  good 
hunting  ground,  such  as  St.  Simon's  afforded 

We  found  Mr.  Couper's  villa,  near  the  water's  edge,  shaded 
by  a  verandah  and  by  a  sago  tree.     There  were  also  many  lemon 
trees    somewhat  injured  by  the  late  frost ;  but  the  olives  of 
which  there  is  a  fine  grove  here,  are  unharmed,  and  it  is  thought 
they  may  one  day  be  cultivated  with  profit  in  the  sea  islands. 
We  also  admired  five  date  palms,  which  bear  fruit.     They  were 
brought  from  Bussora  in  Persia,  and  have  not  suffered  by  the 
cold.     The  oranges  have  been  much  hurt      Some  of  the  tree, 
planted  by  Oglethorpe's  troops  in  1 742,  after  flourishing  for  ninety- 
three  years,  were  cut  off  in  February,  1835.  and  others,  about  a 
century  and  a  half  old.  shared  the  same  fate  at  St.  Augustine  in 
J^  lorida.     So  long  a  period  does  it  require  to  ascertain  whether  the 
climate  of  a  new  country  is  suitable  to  a  particular  species  of  plant. 
1  he  evergreen  or  live  oaks  are  truly  magnificent  in  this  island : 
some  of  them.  73  feet  in  height,  have  been  found  to  stretch  with 
their  boughs  over  an  area  63  feet  in  diameter.     I  measured  one 
which  was  thirty-five  years  old.  and  found  the  trunk  to  be  just 
35  inches  m  diameter  near  the  base,  showing  an  amiual  gain  of 
three  inches  m  circumference.     Another,  growing  in  a  favorable 
situation,  forty-two  years  old,  was  nine  feet  six  inches  in  girtK  at 
the  height  of  one  and  a  half  foot  above  the  ground. 

The  island  of  St.  Simon's  is  so  low.  that  the  lower  part  of  it 
was  under  water  in  1804  and  1824.  when  hurricanes  set  in 
with  the  wind  from  the  northeast.  Nearly  the  entire  surface 
was  submerged  in  1 756.  In  that  year  the  sea  rose,  even  as  far 
north  as  Charleston,  to  the  height  of  six  feet  above  its  ordinarv 
level,  and  that  city  might  have  been  destroyed,  had  the  gale  last 
ed  m  the  same  direction  a  few  hours  longer. 

I  went  with  Mr.  Couper  to  Long  Island,  the  outermost  bar- 
rier  of  land  between  St.  Simon's  and  the  ocean,  four  miles  lono-, 
and  about  half  a  mile  wide,  of  recent  formation,  and  consisting  of 
parallel  ranges  of  sand  dunes,  marking  its  growth  by  successive 
additions.     Some  of  the  dunes  on  this  coast  have  been  raised  by 


111 

■'i 
■if 

i 


254 


LONG  ISLAND. 


[Chap,  yvill. 


the  wind  to  the  height  of  40  or  50  feet,  and  inclose  evergreen 
oaks  {Qucrcus  vtrens),  the  upper  brtoches  of  which  alone  pro- 
trude  above  the  surface.     Between  the  parallel  sand  dunes  were 
salt  marshes,  where  wo  collected  the  plant-eating  shell  called 
Auncula  bidentata,  of  a  genus  peculiar  to  such  littoral  situa- 
tions.      On  the  sea-beach,  we  gathered  no  less  than  twenty-nine 
species  of  marine  shells,  and  they  were  of  peculiar  interest  to  me 
because  they  agreed  specifically  with  those  which  I  had  obtained 
Irorn  the  strata  lying  immediately  below  the  megatherium  and 
other  fossils  in  Skiddaway  Island,  and  which  occur  below  similar 
remains  presently  to  be  mentioned  near  Hopeton.    In  some  places 
we  found  bivalves  only  of  the  genera  Pholas,  Lutraria,  Sole- 
'Virtus,   Pctncola,    Tellina,   Donax,    Vemis,    Carclmm,   Area 
^^  w  and  3Iytiius,  just  as  in  the  fossil  group.     On  other  parts 
ct  thv^  beac^  there  was  a  mixture  of  univalves,  Oliva,  Pyrula 
(t  Uigur),  Buccinum,  Sec.     Besides  these  shells  we  found,  scat- 
tered over  the  sands,  a  scutella  and  cases  of  the  king  crab  (Li 
mutus),  and  fragment^of  turtles,  with  bones  of  porpoises. 

Every  geologist  who  has  examined  strata  consisting  of  alter- 
nations of  sandstone  and  shale,  must  occasionally  have  observed 
angular  or  rounded  pieces  of  the  shale  imbedded  in  the  sand- 
stones, a  Dhenomenon  which  seems  at  first  sight  very  sin-nilar 
because  we  might  almost  say  that  the  formation  is  in 'part  made 
up  of  Its  own  ruins,  and  not  derived  wholly  from  pre-existing 
rocks.      On  the  exposed  coast  of  this  "  frontier  island,"  I  saw  a 
complete  explanation  of  the  manner  in  which  this  structure  orirr- 
uiates^    Deposits  of  sand  and  beds  of  clay  rxe  formed  alternatefy 
at  dilTerent  seasons,  and  at  the  time  of  our  visit  the  sea  was 
making   great  .nroads   on   an   argillaceous   mass,  washing   out 
pxeces  of  the  half-consolidated  clay,  and  strewing  them  over  the 
sands,  some  flat,  others  angular,  or  rolled  into  various  sized  peb- 
bles.      These,  when  carried  out  into  the  adjoining  parts  of  the 
sea,  must  be  often  included  in  the  sand,  which  may  be  eventually 
converted  into  sandstone. 

Among  the  numerous  sea  birds,  I  particularly  admired  one  called 
the  sheer.water,  with  its  shrill  clear  note,  and  most  rapid  flight 
On  ray  return  to  Cannon's  Point,  I  found,  in  the  well-stored 


Chap.  XVIir.] 


MENDICITY. 


255 


library  of  Mr.  Couper,  Audubon's  Birds,  Michaud's  Forest  Trees, 
and  othei  costly  works  on  natural  history;  also  Catherwood's 
Antiquities  of  Central  America,  folio  edition,  in  which  the  supe- 
rior effect  of  the  larger  drawings  of  the  monuments  of  Indian 
architecture  struck  me  much,  as  compared  to  the  reduced  ones, 
given  in  Stephens's  Central  America,  by  the  same  artist,  although 
these  also  are  very  descriptive. 

During  our  excursion  to  the  sea-beach,  my  wife  had  been  vis- 
ited by  some  ladies  well  acquainted  with  relations  of  her  own, 
who  formerly  resided  in  this  part  of  Georgia,  and  who,  when 
they  returned  to  England,  had  taken  back  with  them  an  old 
negress.      One  of  the  colored  maid-servants  of  the  ladies,  feeling 

no  doubt  that  Mrs.  W although  fihe  had  recrossed  the  At" 

(antic,  would  be  as  much  interested  as  ever  in  her  history,  sent 
innumerable  messages,  beginning  with,  "Pray  tell  her  that  Mrs. 
A.  has  given  me  and  my  children  to  Mrs.  B."  They  were  all 
very  curious  to  know  about  their  former  friend,  Delia,  the  black 
maid,  and  how  she  had  got  on  in  England.  On  being  told  that 
she  had  been  shocked  at  seeing  so  many  beggars,  and  had  scold- 
ed them  for  not  working,  they  laughed  heartily,  saying  it  was  so 
like  her  to  scold ;  but  they  also  expressed  astonishment  at  the 
idea  of  a  white  mendicant,  there  being  none,  so  far  as  they  knew, 
white  or  colored,  in  Georgia.  One  of  the  ladies  explained  the 
term  "beggar"  to  signify  in  England,  a  "mean  white  person;" 
and  said  lo  an  attendant  who  had  once  accompanied  hor  to  the 
north,  "  Do  you  not  remember  some  mean  white  men,  who  asked 
me  for  money  ?"  Talking  over  this  story  in  Alabama,  I  was 
toid  that  mendicity  is  not  so  entirely  unknown  in  the  south ;  that 
a  superannuated  negress,  having  a  love  of  rambling,  and  wishing 
to  live  by  begging,  asked  her  master  to  set  her  free,  "for  when  I 
beg,  every  one  asks  me  why  I  do  not  go  to  my  owner."  "  What 
will  you  do  in  winter,"  said  he,  "  when  you  can  not  travel  about  ?" 
"  I  will  come  back  to  you  then,"  she  replied,  "  and  you  will  take 
care  of  me  in  the  cold  weather." 

The  sea  islands  produce  the  finest  cotton,  and  we  saw  many 
women  employed  in  separating  the  cotton  from  the  seeds  with 
their  fingers,  a  neat  and  clean  occupation. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

*" 'wc^fiSn^M  °'  F--ts._La„d  rising  i„  .uecess.ve 

xerraces.— Urigin  of  these.— Bones  of  extinct  Quadnineds  in  T  n«,«^ 
Terraco-Associated  Marine  Shells-Digging  of  BruSck  Canal 

sTiT^f  ^«?'*^'|f r™  ^"'^  •*'  Contemporfries.-i"^"o«?of  aT; 
on^a  R.^  S  T?-  P"b««f«T-Life  of  Southern  Pla.terl -Negroes 
Work    exLte^    HolT?'?'^   Children.-Separato    Negro  Houl- 

our  expedition.     As  our  canoe  was  scudding  throu"li  the  clear 
waters  of  the  Altamaha,  Mr.  Couper  menUoned  a"  fa  t  which 
show,  the  effect  of  herbage,  shrubs,  and  trees  in  protecting    he 
«).I  from  the  wasting  action  .f  ,ain  and  torrents.     Formerlv 
even  during  floods  the  Altaraaha  was  transparent,  or  only  s3 
of  a  darker  eoor  by  decayed  vegetable  matter,  like  some  streams 
m  Europe  which  flow  out  of  peat  mosses.     So  late  a,  1841    a 
resident  here  could  distinguish  on  which  of.  the  two  branche  so? 
the  Altamaha,  the  Oconee  or  Ocmulgee,  a  freshet  had  occurred 
for  the  land,  in  the  upper  country,  drained  by  one  of  these  (the 
Oconee)  had  already  been  partially  cleared  and  cultivated,  so  thai 

other  (the  Ocmulgee)  remained  clear,  though  swollen.  But  no 
sooner  had  the  Indians  been  driven  out,  and  the  woods  of  the" 
old  hun^ng-ground,  begun  to  give  way  before  the  ax  of  the  new 
settler,  than  the  Ocmulgee  also  became  turbid.  I  ,hall  havT 
occasion,  m  the  sequel,  to  recur  to  this  subject,  when  speaking  „f 
oine  recent  y-formed  ravines  of  great  depth  and  wid'th  ii/the 
red  mud  of  the  upland  country  near  MiUedgeviUe  in  Georgia. 
•  ,  A  '"V^'""  bordering  the  Atlantic,  comprising  the  sea- 
»landa  such  a,  St.  Simon's,  and  the  flat  or  ne«ly  level  pWn, 


Ohap.  XIX  ] 


SUCCKSSION  OF  TERRACES. 


857 


of  the  mam  land  unnicdiatoly  adjoining,  has  an  average  height 

of  from  ten  to  twenty  Ibet,  although  there  are  a  few  plaees  where 

t  reaches  forty  ieet   above  the  sea.      It  extends  twenty  miles   n^ 

shown  by  the  included  marine  shells,  which  are  hke  those  of 
Sluddaway   before  mentioned  *  all  identical  with  living  species. 

parts,  beds  of  fresh-water  origin,  in  which  the  bones  of  extinct 
mammalia  occur.  The  whole  group  would  be  caUed  by  geolo- 
gists  fiuvzo-m*me.  and  is  of  small  depth,  resting  immediately  on 
Locene  or  lower  tertiary  strata,  as  I  ascertained  by  examiiiing 
the  shells  brought  up  from  several  wells.  Going  inLid  twenty 
miles,  we  come  to  the  termination  of  this  lower  terrace,  and  as- 
eend  abruptly  to  an  upper  platform,  seventy  feet  above  the  lower 
one  the  strata  composing  which  belong  to  the  Eocene  period. 
Tur^ffT""  ''"'''l'''^'l'^^'  ^a«k  about  twenty  miles  to  the  ab- 
rupt  termination  of  a  third  table-land,  which  is  also  about  seventy 

whlh^«ir;r  r"'''*'  °^  ^'^'"^  '''^'^'  ^y  *he  denudation  of 
which  all  these  terraces  and  escarpments  (or  ancient  sea-cUfis) 
have  been  formed.  Bartram  has,  with  hi^  usual  accuracy  al- 
luded to  these  steps,  or  succession  of  terraces,  as  an  important 
geographical  feature  of  the  country,  each  of  them  belnrmarked 
by  Its  own  botanical  characters,  the  prevailing  forest-trees,  as  well 
as  the  smaller  plants,  being  different  in  each 

To  return  to  the  first  platform,  or  lowest  land,  from  ten  to 
lorty  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea.  it  consists  of  a  modern  de- 
posit which  extends  400  miles  northward  to  the  Neuse  in  North 
Carolina,  and  probably  further,  in  the  same  direction,  along  the 
Adantic  border.  How  far  it  stretches  southward.  I  am  nSt  it 
ormed.     I  conceive  it  to  have  been  accumulated  in  a  sea.  into 

knd  anTllf  .T'  ^°"''^  ^"""^  "  ^^^""^^  ^^^^^^ence  of  the 
land,  and  that  the  strata,  whether  fresh-water  or  marine,  formed 
durmg  the  sinking  of  the  bottom  of  the  sea.  have  be;n  shice 
brought  up  again  to  their  present  elevation.  Throughout  this 
low.  fla  region,  the  remains  of  extinct  quadrupeds  are  occasion- 
ally  met  with,  and  the  deposit  appears  to  be  very  analogous  to 

*  Ante,  p.  234. 


Ml 


II 


S58 


BRUNSWICK  CANAL. 


[Chap.  XIX. 


the  great  Pampean  formation  on  the  borders  of  the  A.tlantic  in 
South  America,  as  described  by  Mr.  DarM  in.  Here  and  in  the 
Pampas  the  skeletons  of  many  quadrupeds  of  the  same  genera, 
such  as  the  Megatherium,  Megalonyx,  Mylodon,  Mastodon, 
and  Equus  occur.  In  both  cases  it  has  been  proved  that  tli..' 
mammaha,  all  of  which  differ  specifically,  and  most  of  them  gener- 
ically,  from  those  now  living,  flourished,  nevertheless,  at  a  time 
when  the  Atlantic  was  inhabited  by  the  existing  species  of  mol- 
lusca,  and  when  the  climate,  therefore,  of  the  ocean  at  least, 
could  not  have  varied  materially  from  that  no\/ prevailing  in 
these  latitudes. 

Through  part  of  the  region  occupied  by  the  modern  deposits 
above  mentioned,  a  canal  was  cut  in   1838-39,  nine  miles  in 
length,  called  the  Brunswick  Canal,  to  unite  the  navigation  of 
the  Altamaha  and  Turtle  rivers ;  a  rash  undertaking  of  some 
speculators  from  the  northern  states,  which,  hud  the  work  been 
completed,  could  not  have  repaid  the  ouJay.      About  200,000/. 
(900,000  dollars)  were  expended,  a  sum  which  might  have  gone 
far  toward  obtaining  geological  surveys  of  Ttiany  of  the  southern 
states,  whereas  the  only  good  result  was  the  discovery  of  some 
valuable  fossil  remains  ;  and  even  these  fruits  of  the  enterprise 
M'ould  never  have  been  realized,  but  for  the  accidental  presence, 
energy,  and  scientific  knowledge  of  Mr.  Hamilton  Couper.     Part 
of  the  skeleton  of  a  megatherium,  dug  out  in  cutting  the  canal, 
was  so  near  the  surface,  that  it  was  penetrated  by  the  roots  of  a 
pine-tree.      It  occurred  in  clay,  apparently  a  fresh-\t  iter  deposit, 
and  underneath  it  were  beds  of  sand,  with  marine  shells  of  recent 
species.      It  was  also  covered  with  sand,  probably  marine,  but 
without  shells.      So  many  parts  of  the  same  skeleton  were  found 
in  juxtaposition  as  to  suggest  the  idea  that  a  whole  carcass  had 
been  floated  by  the  river  to  the  spot,  and  even  where  the  bones 
were  slightly  scattered  they  were  not  injured  by  being  rolled. 
The  remains  of  other  quadrupeds  associated  with  this  gigantic 
sloth,  consisted  of  mylodon,  ma?todon,  elephant,  equus,  and  bos, 
besides  a  fossil,  to  which  Mr.  Owen  has  given  the  name  of  Har- 
lanus  americanus,  a  new  genus,  intermediate  between  Lophiodon 
and  Toxodon.     It  had  been  supposed  that  the  hippopotamus  and 


Chap.  XIX.] 


FOSSIL  REMAINS. 


359 


8US  were  among  this  assemblage  of  fossil  genera  :  but  this  was  a 
mistake  ;  nor  have  either  of  these  genera  been  as  yet  met  with, 
fossil  or  recent,  in  any  part  of  America,  although  the  swine  Intro' 
duced  by  man,  have  multiplied  so  fast.  The  horse  {Equus  curv- 
idem)  was  a  species  having  teeth  in  the  upper  jaw  more  curved 
than  any  living  horse,  ass,  zebra,  or  quagga  ;  and  it  is  singular 
that,  although  there  was  no  wild  representative  of  the  horse  tribe 
on  the  American  continent,  north  or  south,  when  discovered  by 
the  Europeans,  yet  two  other  fossil  horses  were  found  by  Mr. 
Nuttall  on  the  banks  of  the  Neuse,  fifteen  miles  below  Newbern, 
in  North  Carolina.*  The  shells  and  bones  of  a  large  extinct 
species  of  tortoise  were  also  found  to  accompany  the  above-men- 
tioned fossil  quadrupeds  of  Georgia ;  and  I  myself  ^  icked  up 
many  fragments  of  this  Chelonian  strewed  over  the  banks  of 
earth  cast  up  from  the  Brunswick  Canal. 

In  another  part  of  the  excavations  made  in  digging  the  canal, 
the  ribs  and  vertebrae  of  a  whale  much  rolled,  and  with  barnacles 
attached  to  them,  were  discovered  belonging  to  the  subjacent 
marine  formation.  In  this  sand  the  shells,  as  before  stated,  are 
of  recent  species,  and  Mr.  Hamilton  Couper  has  collected  no  less 
than  forty-five  distinct  species  exclusive  of  Echinoderms. 

In  what  manner,  then,  has  the  destruction  of  these  quadrupeds, 
once  so  widely  spread  over  the  American  continent,  been  brought 
about  ?  That  they  were  exterminated  by  the  arrows  of  the  In- 
dian hunter,  is  the  first  idea  presented  to  the  mind  of  almost ' 
every  naturalist.  But  the  investigations  of  Lund  and  Clausen 
in  the  limestone  caves  of  Brazil  have  established  the  fact,  that 
with  the  large  mammalia  there  were  associated  a  great  many 
smaller  quadrupeds,  some  of  them  as  diminutive  as  field  mice, 
which  have  all  died  out  together,  while  the  land  shells,  once  their 
contemporaries,  still  continue  to  exist  in  the  same  countries.  We 
must  look,  therefore,  to  causes  more  general  and  powerful  than 
the  intervention  of  man,  to  account  for  the  disappearance  of  the 
ancient  fauna,  an  event  the  more  remarkable,  as  many  of  the 

=*  Mr.  Conrad  intrusted  me  with  Mr.  Nuttall's  collection,  and  Mr.  Owen 
has  found  araonjr  them  the  three  species  of  Equidoe  hero  alluded  to,  Equut 
'turvidens,  E.  jdicidens.^  and  a  third  species  of  the  size  of  E.  asinns. 


ilti 


900 


EXTERMINATING  CAUSES. 


[Chap.  XIX. 


oS  »  f  ™'^  T"*?  ""^'  '■"*  •"""'  *«'»«""  h^'ve  been 
capable  of  accommodatmg  themselves  to  considerable  variations 
of  temporatnre^  The  same  specie,  of  megatherium,  for  ermple 
ranged  from  Patagonia  and  the  river  Plata  in  Sonth  AmX 
between  ]a..,„des  SI"  and  50»  south,  to  corresponding TariS 
of  the  northern  contment,  and  was  also  an  inhabitant  of  the  i^ 
termed>ate,eountry  of  Brazil,  in  the  caves  of  which  its  fossil  Z 
mams  are  met  with.  The  extinct  elephant  also  of  Georgia  (Ele. 
Pl^s  pnm^gemus)  has  been  traced  in  a  fossil  state  nfrthward 

hron!t%  ^^^i"  *"  1°'^'  '^""'™^'  "»''  ">en  southwestward 
through  Siberia  to  the  south  of  Europe 

thafitTs  tt\"^T'r"'^  ■"""'''  ^  "S""'^  ™'"'  «■■•  D''™". 

shed  that  h!  height  of  presumption  for  any  geologist  to  be  aston- 

ished  that  he  can  not  render  an  account  of  them.     No  naturalist 

oTwd:°  '°r  "^"  "'"^-"'^  "'"•  ""  *^  circumsZt 
on  which  the  contmuance  upon  the  earth  of  any  living  species 

depends  as  to  be  entitled  to  wonder  if  it  should  dtainish  rSy 

mW.     '"'  ^T'f^'rl  ™^"     ^"'  'f ''''  »Pe-lations  shou  d 
embrace  a  period  in  which  considerable  changes  in  physical  geos- 
raphy  are  known  to  have  occurred,  as  is  thf  case  in  Nor  h^aifd 
South  America  since  the  megatherium  flourished,   how  much 
more  diffiouu  would  it  be  to  appreciate  all  the  effects  of  Zeal 
modifications  of  climate,  and  changes  in  the  stations  of  contempo 
rary  animals  and  plants,  on  all  which,  and  many  other  coTd- 
tions   the  permanence  of  a  species  must  depend.     Until  we  "in- 
demand  the  physiological  constitutions  of  organic  being    rwell 
that  we  can  explam  why  an  epidemic  or  contagious  disease  may 
rage  for  months  or  years,  and  cut  off  a  large  proportion  of  the 
living,  individuals  of  one  species  while  another  is  spared,  Sow  can 
we  hope  to  explain  why,  in  the  great  struggle  for  existence  some 
spec.es  are  multiplying,  while  others  are  decreasing  „  num3 

allied  habits  people  the  same  district,  and  we  can  not  say  why 

wonder  ifTb"  ''"  "?\*'"'  """^  °°'"'»°"'  "'■'"  "ffh'  have  we  to 
wonder  If  the  rarer  of  the  two  should  cease  to  exist  altogether  '" 

In  Illustration  of  this  principle,  I  may  refer  to  two  beautiful 

evergreens  flourishing  in  this  part  of  Geo^ia,  species  of  GorTm^ 


Chap.  XIX.]  GORDONIA  PUBESCENS.  gsi 

{orFranklima  of  Bartram).  a  plant  allie7^e"^^;;;^ii~^ 

wh  te,  fragrant  blossoms.     This  plant  has  a  wide  ra^se  in    h, 
southern  states,  whereas  the  other,  G.  pul^  ohTl 

^n>ues  ii-ptlsf L^;:-;;  :u  -L':,;:::  SaTs 

ioT.  h««  if  .       u   "°  f^^*^®'  ^P°t  ^»  the  whole  continent  of  Amer- 

™t;:^:  ^:  s- ,  fhe-ein  *;l*?ro  ;-t 

^^^^^Zt::^  - -He  othe 
advance      But  even  then  we  should  require  to  foresee  a  eount 

tirfftiif/t?'""™*^"??''  *'  '»^'"«  aTmr::: 

Juet  L  to  thi  /      '^■'^'  .     "■'  ""'  °°'"''*  "^^  *  P"'""''^ 
guess  as  to  their  comparative  durabihty.     A  sinele  frost  m„r„ 

severe  than  that  before  alluded  to,  which^ut  Vtheo^^l'TrS 

baffle  »U  our  calculations  ;  or  the  increase  of  some  foe  a  mTnf,,! 
paras.t.e  .nsect  perhaps,  might  entirely  alterTe  0^^^  „n 

Zl  dtr"""^  "^  *'-  "  »^  "*-  --•  «hr„bs":'rTuad! 
During  a  fortnight's  stay  at  Hopeton,  we  had  an  opportunitv 

ina  prospects  of  the  negroes  on  a  well-managed  estate      The 
relation  of  the  slaves  to  their  owners  resembles  nothW  i„  Ml 

T^Z  tlr-  •d^'"''  "  T."^'^^'^'^  regar/InTofZ   tVct 

lord.!      .  T^        ''  ""^  ''k«  that  formerly  existing  between 

ords  and  their  retainers  in  the  old  feudal  times  of  EuLe  than 

-  m  thmg  now  to  be  found  in  America.     The  sltveT  WemSi; 

*  Bartram,  pp.  159,  465. 


262 


NEGROES  ON  A  RICE  PLANTATION.      [Chap.  XIX 


themselves  with  the  master,  and  their  sense  of  their  own  import- 
ance  rises  with  his  success  in  life.      But  the  responsibility  of 
the  owners  is  felt  to  be  great,  and  to  manage  a  plantation  with 
profit  is  no  easy  task ;  so  much  judgment  is  required,  and  such  a 
mixture  of  firmness,  forbearance,  and  kindness.     The  evils  of 
the  system  of  slavery  are  said  to  be  exhibited  in  their  worst  light 
when  new  settlers  come  from  the  free  states ;  northern  men,  who 
are  full  of  activity,  and  who  striv3  to  mak6  a  rapid  fortune,  wiU- 
mg  to  risk  their  own  lives  in  an  unhealthy  climate,  and  who  can 
not  make  allowance  for  the  repugnance  to  continuous  labor  of 
the  negro  race,  or  the  diminished  motive  for  exertion  of  the  slave 
To  one  who  arrives  in  Georgia  direct  from  Europe,  with  a  vivid 
impression  on  his  mind  of  the  state  of  the  peasantry  there  in 
many  populous  regions,  their  ignorance,  intemperance,  and  im- 
p-ovidence,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  subsistence,  and  the  small 
chance  they  have  of  bettering  their  lot,  the  condition  of  the  black 
laborers  on  such  a  property  as  Hopeton,  will  afford  but  small 
ground  for  lamentation  or  despondency.     I  had  many  opportu- 
nities, while  here,  of  talking  with  the  slaves  alone,  or  seeing 
them  at  work.     I  may  be  told  that  this  was  a  favorable  speci- 
men of  a  weU-managed  estate ;  if  so,  I  may  at  least  affirm  that 
mere  chance  led  me  to  pay  this  visit,  that  is  to  say,  scientific 
objects  wholly  unconnected  with  the  "  domestic  institutions"  of 
the  south,  or  the  character  of  the  owner  in  relation  to  his  slaves  ; 
and  I  may  say  the  same  in  regard  to  every  other  locality^r  pro- 
prietor visited  by  me  in  the  course  of  this  tour.     I  can  but  relate 
what  passed  under  my  own  eyes,  oi  what  I  learnt  from  good 
authority,  concealing  nothing. 

There  are  500  negroes  on  the  Hopeton  estate,  a  great  many 
of  whom  are  children,  and  some  old  and  superannuated.  The 
latter  class,  who  would  be  supported  in  a  poor-house  in  En-land, 
enjoy  here,  to  the  end  of  their  days,  the  society  of  their  neigh- 
bors and  kinsfolk,  and  live  at  large  in  separate  houses  assigned 
to  them.  The  children  have  no  regular  work  to  do  till  they  are 
ten  or  twelve  years  old.  We  see  that  some  of  them,  at  this 
season,  are  set  to  pick  up  dead  leaves  from  the  paths,  others  to 
attend  the  babies.      When  the  mothers  are  at  work,  the  young 


Chap.  XIX.] 


NEGRO  HOUSES. 


263 

faces  when  thL  „/&; 't^ Vd  ^  7"  '-     '"""'  '"'"'' 
^  have  .e.  .an.  S:^Ll't^':J^:  ^VllT Z 

rejoice,  in  the  appelbtion  „f  "  CTd  Bac!hl  "  O^T"  t  "'"'' 
of  .he  fav„.te  p.eache.  and  BuL^^tlkan^ri'l^e: 

evcf rdii.Lt7::„t^:rr:  r  "-t  "^^^'^^^  <""  *-  - 

white  children,  live  a;arrLrthe\:e:tZ;el''  """"  '"  '""^ 
not  always  convenient  for  the  mSa^TetT '"'"«'""'"* 
8wer  a  bell  after  a  certain  hour      S  ^  ,     ""  ™°  '° "- 

be  considered  an  extraordinary  act  of  tvrannv      Th.  1  T 

part   of  the  night  in   chatting,   merry-making,   preachin^r    ami 
psalm-smginff.      At   Chi-Qfmoa    ♦!,         i  •      ^     preacning,    and 

when  they  hold  fkind  of  s^t        r      ''?   I  '^''^''   ^''^'^^y^' 

I    J  °*  featuraaha,  and  the  owners  can  apt 

no  work  done.     Although  there  is  scarcely  any  drb    r/  fhe 

?hTnerCr "  *'^^  ^^^^°"  ^^  -^"  °-^  wL^rmiSh If 
iho  negro  houses  are  as  neat  as  the  greater  part  of  the  cottage. 


264 


HOSPITAL  FOB  NEGROES. 


[Chap.  XIX. 


m  Scotland  (no  flattering  compliment  it  must  be  confessed),  are 
provided  always  with  a  back  door,  and  a  hall,  as  they  call  .  i^ 
which  18  a  chest,  a  table,  two  or  three  chairs,  and  a  few  shelves 
for  crockery.  On  the  door  of  the  sleeping  apartment  they  W 
a  large  wooden  padlock,  to  guard  their'valuables  from\heir 
neighbors  when  they  are  at  work  in  the  field,  for  there  is  much 
pilfering  among  them.     A  little  yard  is  often  attached,  in  which 

amu«!''  '^'  ^""^  '"'''""^  ^  ^'^P^^^  '"^'  ^'P'  ^''  *h^i^ 

The  winter,  when  the  whites  enjoy  the  best  health,  is  the 
trying  season  for  the  negroes,  who  are  rarely  ill  in  the  rice- 
grounds  in  summer,  which  are  so  fatal  to  the  whites,  that  when 
the  planters  who  have  retreated  to  the  sea-islands  revisit  their 
estates  once  a  fortn^ht,  they  dare  not  sleep  at  home.  Such 
he  indifference  of  the  negroes  to  heat,  that  they  are  often  found 
sleeping  with  their  faces  upw.ud  in  a  broiling  sun,  instead   of 

S::^  ?  ^^'\^'  '  *^^^  ^^^^  ^y-  We  visi'tedl:  hos- 
pital at  Hopeton,  which  consists  of  three  separate  wards,  all  per- 
fectly clean  and  well-ventilated .  One  is  for  men,  another  for 
women  and  a  third  for  lying-in  women.  The  latter  are  always 
allowed  a  month's  rest  after  their  confinement,  an  advantage 
rarely  enjoyed  by   hard-working    English  peasants.      Although 

io7s'"  .rr  '"-^'f  f "  ^"'  '^^P*  "^°-  ^-«^'  -  these  oeT 
«ions,  m  the  hospital,  the  planters  are  usually  baffled  ;  for  the 

women  prefer  their  own  houses,  where  they  can  gossip  with  their 
friends  without  restraint,  and  they  usually  contL  ^o  b  tiken 
by  surprise  at  home. 

The  negro  mothers  are  often  so  ignorant  or  indolent,  that  thev 
can  not  be  trusted  to  keep  awake  and  administer  medicine  to 
their  own  children  ;  so  that  the  mistress  has  often  to  sit  up  all 
night  with  a  sick  negro  child.  In  submitting  to  this,  they  are 
actuated  by  mixed  motives_a  feeling  of  kindness,  and  a  foar  of 
losmg  the  services  of  the  slave ;  but  these  attentions  greatly  at- 

tlt  1a-  """^T  *°  '^'''  °^'"''^^-     ^^  ^«"«^^1'  th^y  refuse  to 
^ke  medicine  from  any  other  hands  but  those  of  their  master  or 
mistress.      The  laborers  are  allowed  Indian  meal.  rice,  and  milk 
and  occasionally  pork  and  soup.     As  their  rations  are  more  than 


Chap.  XIX.] 


WORK  EXACTED. 


265 


they  can  eat,  they  either  return  part  of  it  to  the  overseer,  who 
makes  them  an  allowance  of  money  for  it  at  the  end  of  the  week 
or  they  keep  it  to  feed  their  fowls,  which  they  usually  sell  a^ 
well  as  their  eggs  for  cash,  to  buy  molasses.  toLco.  IntoC 
uxuries  When  disposed  to  exert  themselves,  they  get  through 
the  days  task  in  five  hours,  and  then  amuse  themselves  in  fish 
ing,  and  sell  the  fish  they  take ;  or  some  of  them  employ  their 
spare  time  m  making  canoes  out  of  large  cypress  treesf  leave 
being  readily  granted  them  to  remove  such  timber,  as  it  aids  the 
landowner  to  clear  the  swamps.  They  sell  the  canoes  for  about 
tour  dollars,  for  their  own  profit. 

If  the  mistress  pays  a  visit  to  Savannah,  the  nearest  town 
she  IS  overwhelmed  with  commissions,  so  many  of  the  slaves 
wishing  to  lay  out  their  small  gains  in  various  indulgences,  espe- 
c  ally  articles  of  dress,  of  which  they  are  passionately  fond.  The 
stuff  must  be  of  the  finest  quality,  and  many  instructions  are 
given  as  to  the  precise  color  or  fashionable  shade.  White  mus- 
lin, with  figured  patterns,  is  the  rage  just  now 

One  day,  when  walking  alone.  I  came  upon  a  "  ganff"  of  ne- 
groes, who  were  digging  a  trench.     They  were  superintended  by 
a  black  "driver."  who  held  a  whip  in  his  hand.     Some  of  thi 
laborers  were  using  spades,  others  cutting  away  the  roots  and 
stumps  of  trees  which  they  had  encountered  in  the  line  of  the 
ditch.     Their  mode  of  proceeding  in  their  task  was  somewhat 
eisurely,  and  eight  hours  a  day  of  this  work  are  exacted,  though 
they  can  accornplish  the  same  in  five  hours,  if  they  undertake°it 
by  the  task      The  digging  of  a  given  number  of  feet  in  length 
breadth  and  depth  is.  m  this  ca^e,  assigned  to  each  ditcher,  and 
a  deduction  made  when  they  fall  in  with  a  stump  or  root      The 
names  of  gangs  and  drivers  are  odious,  and  the  sight  of  the  whin 
was  painful  to  me  as  a  mark  of  degradation,  reminding  me  that 
the  lower  orders  of  slaves  are  kept  to  their  work  by  mere  bodily 
fear,  and  that  their  treatment  must  depend  on  the  individual 
character  of  the  owner  or  overseer.     That  the  whip  is  rarely 
used,  and  often  held  for  weeks  over  them,  merely  m  terrarem,  is 
T  have  no  doubt,  true  on  all  well  governed  estates  ;  and  it  is  not 
that  formidable^  weapon  which  I  have  seen  exhibited  as  formerly 

VOL.  I — M 


266 


AFRICAN  TOM. 


[Chap.  XlX. 


Wide  and  .  ^"t"     ^'  ''  "  *^°"^  °^  ^^^^^^^^  ^^1^-  -ch 

Tl  owed  1  ^''"''"'  °^""  ^"'^  *^^^^-  ^^°  -d>"-y  driver  is 
a  lowed  to  give  more  than  six  lashes  for  any  ofFense.  the  head 

driver  twelve,  and  the  overseer  twenty-four.  When  an  estate 
IS  under  superior  management,  the  system  is  remarkably  effective 
m  preventing  crime.     The  most  severe  punishment  requ  red  In 

t  the  thT  T"'  '"  "  '°'-^  °^  '''  "'^--  ^*  Hopeton,  wl" 
for  the  theft  of  one  negro  from  another.  In  that  period  there 
has  been  no  criminal  act  of  the  highest  grade,  for  which  a  delin- 
twArl  «7»?^««d  to  the  penitentiary  in  Georgia,  and 
there  have  been  only  six  cases  of  assault  and  battery.  As  a  race 
the  negroes  ai^  mild  and  forgiving,  and  by  no  meJns  so  prone  to 
indulge  in  drinking  as  the  white  man  or  the  Indian.  There 
were  more  serious  quarrels,  and  more  broken  heads,  among  the 

cTnal  thanhrd'h'^'r^'"  *^'^  ''"^'  ''  ^'^  ^^^  ^^"-«^«k 
Canal,  than  had  been  known  among  the  negroes  in  aU  the  sur- 
rounding plantati  :ns  for  half  a  century.  The  murder  of  a  hus- 
band by  a  black  woman,  whom  he  had  beaten  violently,  is  the 

to     Old  Tom,     the  head  driver,  a  man  of  superior  intelligence 

Timtto^'  T.  ^^"  *^^«\P"«oner,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  near 
Timbuctoo.      The  accounts  he  gave  of  what  he  remembered  of 
the  plants  and  geography  of  Africa,  have  been  taken  down  in 
writmg  by  Mr.  Couper,  and  confirm  many  of  the  narratives  of 
modern  travelers.     He  has  remained  a  strict  Mahometan,  but  his 
numerous  progery  of  jet-black  children  and  grandchUdren,  all  of 
them  marked  by  countenances  of  a  more  Europes^^  cast  than 
those  of  ordinary  negroes,  have  exchanged  the  Koran  for  the  Bible 
inuring  the  last  war,  when  Admiral  Cockburn  was  off  this 
coast  with  his  fleet,  he  made  an  offer  of  freedom  to  all  the  slaves 
belonging  to  the  father  of  my  present  host,  and  a  safe  convoy  to 
Canada      Nearly  all  would  have  gone,  had  not  African  Tom,  to 
whom  they  looked  up  with  great  respect,  declined  the  proposal. 
He  told  them  he  had  first  known  what  slavery  was  in  the  West 


Ciup.  XIX.] 


BLACK  ^IECHi»NlCS. 


267 


Indies,  and  had  made  up  his  mind  that  the  Enghsh  were  worse 
masters  than  the  Americans.  About  half  of  them,  therefor^ 
determmed  to  stay  m  St.  Simon's  Island,  and  not  a  few  of  the 
others  who  accepted  the  ofier  and  emigrated,  had  their  lives 
shortened  by  the  severity  of  the  climate  in  Canada. 
^         Ihe  slave  trade  ceased  in  1796,  and  but  few  necrroes  were 

nduectly  for  a  short  time  through  Florida  before  its  annexation; 
}  et  one  fourth  of  the  population  of  this  lower  country  is  said  to 
have  come  direct  from  Africa,  and  it  is  a  good  sign  of  the  prog- 
ress  made  m  civilization  by  the  native-born  colored  race,  that 
they  speak  of  these  «  Africa.ians"  with  much  of  the  con  empt 
with  which  Europeans  talk  of  negroes. 

I  was  agreeably  surprised  to  see  the  rank  held  here  by  the 
black  mechamcs.      One  day  I  observed  a  set  of  carpenters  put- 

v!S  n?.?        ''if'^  %l''^  ^^  ^  '"""^  °^  ^  ^^^  "»1"^«^"  in  this 
part  ol  the  world.      The  black  foreman  was  carryin-  into  execu- 

tion  a  plan  laid  down  for  him  on  paper  by  Mr.  Cou^per  ;ho Tad 
observed  it  himself  many  years  ago  in  Holland.      I  aL  saw  a 
Bteam-engine,  of  fifteen  horse  po^er,  made  in  England  by  Boltor 
and  Watt   and  used  in  a  mill  for  threshing  rice,  which  had  bee  ^ 
managed  by  a  negro  for  more  than  twelve  years  without  an  accf 
dent.      When  these  mechanics  come  to  consult  Mr.  Couper  oi 
business,  their  manner  of  speaking  to  him  is  quite  as  independen 
as  that  of  English  artisans  to  their  employers.      Their  aptitude 
for  the  practice  of  such  mechanical  arts  may  encourage  every 
philanthropist  who  has  had  misgivings  in  regard  to  the  progress^ 
ive  powers  of  the  race,  although  much  time  will  be  required  to 
improve  the  whole  body  of  negroes,  and  the  movement  must  be 
general      One  planter  can  do  little  by  himself,  so  long  as  educa- 
tion IS  forbidden  by  law.      I  am  told  that  the  old  colonial  statutes 
against  teaching  the  slaves  to  read  were  almost  in  abeyance,  and 

tt  aHv'  "-  "^''"^  .^''''''  ""til  revived  by  the  reaction  agkinst 
the  Abolition  agitation,  since  which  they  have  been  rigorously 
enforced  and  made  more  stringent.  Nevertheless,  the  negroes 
are  often  taught  to  read,  and  they  learn  much  in  Sunday  schools. 
«    '1  ior  the  most  part  are  desirous  of  instruction. 


268 


PROGRESS  OF  NEGROES. 


[Chap.  XIX. 


In  the  hope  of  elevating  the  character  of  some  of  his  negroes, 
and  giving  them  more  self-dependence.  Mr.  Coup  r,  hy  way  of 
experiment,  set  apart  a  field  for  the  beiscfit  of  twenty-five  picked 
men,  and  gave  up  to  them  half  their  Salr^ day's  labor  to  till  it. 
In  order  that  they  might  know  its  value,  they  were  compelled  to 
work  on  it  for  the  first  year,  and  the  product,  amounting  to  l(iOO 
dollars,  was  divided  equally  among  them.      But  when,  at  length, 
they  were  left  to  themselves,  they  did  nothing,  and  at  the  end  of 
two  years  the  field  was  uncultivated.     But  the-  ■  appears  to  me 
nothing  disheartening  in  this  failure,  which  may  have  been  chiefly 
owing  to  their  holding  the  property  in  common,  a  scheme  which 
was  found  not  to  answer  even  with  the  Tilgrim  Fathers  when 
they  first  colonized  Plymouth — men  whom  certainly  none  will 
accuse  of  indolence  or  a  disposition  to  shrink  from  continuous 
labor.     The  "  dolce  far  niente"  is  doubtless  the  negro's  paradipe, 
and  I  once  heard  one  of  them  singing  with  much  spirit  at  Will- 
iamsburg an  appropriate  song  : 

"  Old  Virginia  never  tire, 
Eat  hog  and  hominy,  and  lie  by  the  firo ;" 

and  it  is  quite  enough  that  a  small  minority  should  be  of  this 
mind,  to  make  all  the  others  idle  and  unwilling  to  toil  hard  foi 
the  benefit  of  the  sluggards. 

When  conversing  with  different  planters  here,  in  regard  to 
the  capabilities  and  future  progress  of  the  black  population,  I  find 
them  to  agree  very  generally  in  the  opinion  that  in  this  part  of. 
Georgia  they  appear  under  a  great  disadvantage.  In  St.  Simon's 
island  it  is  admitted,  that  the  negroes  on  the  smaller  estates  are 
more  civilized  than  on  the  larger  properties,  because  they  asso- 
ciate wdth  a  greater  proportion  of  whites.  In  Glynn  County, 
where  we  are  now  residing,  there  are  no  less  than  4000  negroes 
to  700  whites;  whereas  in  Georgia  generally  there  are  only 
281,000  slaves  in  a  population  of  691,000,  or  more  whites  than 
colored  people.  Throughout  the  upper  country  there  is  a  large 
preponderance  of  Anglo-Saxons,  and  a  little  reflection  will  satisfy 
the  reader  how  much  the  education  of  a  race  which  starts  orig- 
inally from  so  low  a  stage   of  intellectual,  social,  moral,  and 


M 


Oh.p.  XIX.]  CONVERSION  OF  NECROES.  jjj 

spiritual  dcvolopmont,  as  the  African  negro,  must  depend  not  on 
learnmg  to  read  and  write,  but  on  tl.o  amount  of  famUiarTnter" 
course  winch  they  enjoy  with  individuals  of  a  more  rdva"ced 
race.  So  long  as  they  herd  together  m  large  gan^s  a°.d  rare  v 
come  mto  contact  with  any  whites  save  their  ow^,  and  over- 
seer, they  can  profit  Htik  by  their  imitative  faculty,  and  ca„ 
not  even  make  much  progress  in  mastering  the  EnSlanlar 

cablr;„f ,  I        r"'"«  '"  '"'"'"'"S''  f"^  the  limited  vo- 

cabulary  of  the.r  nat.ve  tnbes.     Yet,  even  in  this  part  of  Georma 
the  negroes  are  very  far  from  stationary,  and  each  genera  "of  i^ 
aequrnng  hab.ts  of  greater  cleanliness  Li  propriety  rfbetl 
while  some  are  learnmg  mechanical  arts,  and  every  year  manv 
of  them  becommg  converts  to  Christianity  " 

Although  the  Baptist  and  Methodist  missionaries  have  been 
the  most  ac uve  m  this  important  work,  the  EpiscopaliZ  have 
not  been  .die,  especially  since  Dr.  Elliott  becamf  S„p  „f 

As  he  found  that  the  negroes  m  general  had  no  faith  in  the  effi. 
caey  of  bapfsm  except  by  complete  immersion,  he  performed  the 
ceremony  as  they  des,red.     Indeed,  according  to  the  old  Engl  ,h 
rubric,  all  persons  were  required  to  be  immersed  i„  baptism  t 
oept  when  they  were  sick,  so  that  to  lose  converts  by  not  ^om- 
p  ymg  w,.h  th.s  popular  notion  of  the  slaves,  would  harX  have 
been  justifiaole.     It  may  be  true  that  the  poor  negroes  cherish  I 
superstmous  belief  that  the  washing  out  of'^.very   aTn   of    ^^e 
pends  mamly  on  the  particular  manner  of  performing  the  ri,e 
and  the  prmcpal  charm  to  the  black  women  in  the  ceiemo„; tf 
total  .mmerston  cons.sts  m  decking  themselves  out  in  white  Xs 
hke  bndes,  and  havmg  their  shoes  trimmed  with  silver.     Thev 
well  know  that  the  v   ters  of  the  Altamaha  are  chilly  and  thit 
they  and  the  officiating  minister  run  no  small  risk  of  eatchmJ 
cold,  but  to  tins  penance  they  most  cheerfully  submit  ^ 

Of  dancmg  and  music  the  negroes  are  passionately  fond.     On 

Iv  t?  ^  ?.  'r"""""'"  "''°™  '"''"'y  ™«»'  have  been  silenceS 
by  the  Methodist  m,ss  onaries,  yet  it  is  notorious  that  the  skvt, 
vore  not  g.ven  to  dr„,k  or  intemperance  in  their  merry-ma^  ngt 


270 


SEPARATION  OF  CHURCHES. 


[Chap.  XIX 


At  the  Methodist  prayer-meetings,  they  are  permitted  to  move 
round  rapidly  in  a  ring,  joining  hands  in  token  of  brotherly  love, 
presenting  firet  the  right  hand  and  then  the  left,  in  which  ma- 
nojuvre,  I  am  told,  they  sometimes  contrive  to  take  enough  exer- 
cise  to  serve  as  a  substitute  for  the  dance,  it  being,  in  fact,  a  kind 
of  spiritual  boulangcr,  while  the  singing  of  psalms,  in  and  out  of 
chapel,  compensates  in  no  small  degree  for  the  songs  they  have 
been  required  to  renounce. 

However  much  we  may  feel  inclined  to  smile  at  some  of  these 
outward  tokens  of  conversion,  and  however  crude  may  be  the  no- 
tions of  the  Deity  which  the  poor  African  at  firsu  exchanges  for 
his  belief  in  the  evil  eye  and  other  superstitious  fears,  it  is  never- 
theless  an  immense  step  in  his  progress  toward  civilization  that 
he  should  join  some  Christian  sect.  Before  he  has  time  to  ac- 
quire high  conceptions  of  his  Creator,  or  to  comprehend  his  own 
probationary  state  on  earth,  and  his  moral  and  religious  duties,  it 
is  no  small  gain  that  he  should  simply  become  a  member  of  the 
same  church  with  his  master,  and  should  be  taught  that  the 
white  and  colored  man  are  equal  before  God,  a  doctrine  calcu- 
lated to  raise  him  in  his  own  opinion,  and  in  that  of  the  dominant 
race. 

Until  lately  the  humblest  slave  who  joined  the  Methodist  oi 
Baptist  denomination  could  feel  that  he  was  one  of  a  powerful 
association  of  Christians,  which  numbered  hunf^reas  of  thousanda 
of  brethren  in  the  northern  as  well  as  in  the  southern  states. 
He  could  claim  many  schools  and  colleges  of  high  repute  in  New 
England  as  belonging  to  his  own  sect,  and  feel  proud  of  many 
celebrated  writers  whom  they  have  educated.  Unfortunately,  a 
recent  separation,  commonly  called  "  the  north  and  south  split," 
has  severed  these  bonds  of  fellowship  and  fraternity,  and  for  the 
sake  of  renouncing  brotherhood  with  slave-owners,  the  northern 
churches  have  repudiated  all  communion  with  the  great  body  of 
their  negro  fellow  Christians.  What  effect  can  such  estrange- 
ment have  on  the  mind,  whether  of  master  or  slave,  favorable  to 
the  cause  of  emancipation  ?  The  slight  thrown  on  the  aristo- 
cracy of  planters  has  no  tendency  to  conciliate  them,  or  lead  them 
to  assimilate  their  sentiments  to  those  of  their  brethren  in  th«» 


Chap.  XIX.] 


MIXTURE  OF  RACES. 


271 


.?  I  '  TL      ^r  ^"''''''^^'  ^^''""Shont  the  northern  and  free 
states  they  had  so  intimate  a  connection  ;  and  as  for  the  slaves 
It  18  to  them  a  positive  loss  to  he  thus  rejected  and  disowned' 
The  rank  and  position  ofthe  negro  preachers  in  the  south,  whether 
Baptis    or  Methodist,  some  of  them  freemen,  and  of  g;orrbaT. 

whlh  t^'" V^^".''^  '^  ''^  ^^"^^""^«  °^  '^'  northern  churches, 
which  IS  therefore  adverse  to  the  gradual  advancement  of  the 
Afncan  race,  which  can  alone  fit  them  for  manumission 

Some  of  the  planters  in  Glynn  County  have  of  late  permitted 
he  distribution  of  Bibles  among  their  slaves,  and  it  wafcu  ous 

r^rt.  ''''  ''Y  ^'^  r"  ""^^^^  *°  ^-^ --  -  -nxioTsto 
possess  them  as  those  who  could.  Besides  Christianizing  the 
blacks,  the  clergy  of  all  sects  are  doing  them  incalculable  service 

«hn,^lTf '"^i^^^^'T^^^^  ^''^  ''^^^^  '^''^  *^«  matrimonial  tie 
should  be   xeld  sacred,  without  respect  to  color.     To  the  domi- 

f?h  /^r/"'  1-  'u'  """''  ''"°"'  ^^"^  °^  ^l^^^^y  i«  its  tendency 
to  bhght  domestic  happiness  ;  and  the  anxiety  of  parents  for  theix 
sons,  and  a  constant  fear  of  their  licentious  intercourse  with  slaved 
IS  painfully  great.     We  know  but  too  much  of  this  evil  in  free 
countries,  wherever  there  is  a  vast  distance  between  the  rich  and 
poor,  giving  a  power  to  wealth  which  insures  a  frightful  amount 
of  prostitution.     Here  it  is  accompanied  with  a  publicity  whlh 
18  keenly  felt  as  a  disgrace  by  the  more  refined  of  the  white 
women.     The  female  sbve  is  proud  of  her  connection  with  a 
white  rnan,  and  thinks  it  an  honor  to  have  a  mulatto  child,  hop- 
ng  that  It  will  be  better  provided  for  than  a  black  child      Yet 
the  iHLxed  ofispring  is  not  very  numerous.     The  mulattoes  alone 
lepresent  nearly  all  the  illicit  intercourse  between  the  white  mTn 
and  negro  of  the  living  generation.     I  am  told  that  they  do  not 

iTtion      Tf"r  f  r  '^'  T"^  ^  ^^^^^'  ^^"*-  °f  *he  whole  popu- 
lation^    If  the  statistics  of  the  iUegitimate  children  of  the  whites 
born  here  could  be  compared  with  those  in  Great  Britain,  it  might 
^ad  to  conclusions  by  no  means  favorable  to  the  free  country 
Here  there  is  no  possibility  of  concealment,  the  color  ofthe  child 
stamps  upon  him  the  mark  of  bastardy,  and  transmits  it  to  great 
grand-children  born  in  lawful  wedlock  ;  whereas  if,  in  Europe 
there  was  some  mark  or  indelible  stain  betraying  all  the  delin' 


272 


MORAL  CONDITION  OF  NEGROES.        [Cha"*p.  XIX. 


quencies  and  frailties,  not  only  of  parents,  but  of  ancestors  for 
three  or  four  generations  back,  what  unexpected  disclosures  should 
we  not  witness  ! 

There  are  scarcely  any  instances  of  mi  lattoes  born  of  a  black 
father  and  a  white  mother.     The  colored  women  who  become  the 
mistresses  of  the  white  men  are  neither  rendered  miserable  nor 
degraded,  as  are  the  white  women  who  are  seduced  in  Europe, 
and  who  are  usually  abandoned  in  the  end,  and  left  to  be  the 
victims  of  want  and  disease.     In  the  northern  states  of  America 
there  is  so  little  profligacy  of  this  kind,  that  their  philanthro- 
pists may  pe^baps  be  usefully  occupied  in  considering  how  the 
mischief  may  be  alleviated  south  of  the  Potomac  ;  but  in  Great 
Britain  there  is  so  much  need  of  reform  at  home,  that  the  whole 
thoughts  and  energies  of  the  rich  ought  to  be  concentrated  in  such 
schemes  of  improvement  as  may  enable  us  to  set  an  example  of 
a  higher  moral  standard  to  the  slave-owning  aristocracy  of  the 
Union, 

On  one  of  the  estates  in  this  part  of  Georgia,  there  is  a  mulatto 
mother  who  has  nine  children  by  a  full  blaci-,  and  the  difference 
of  shade  between  them  and  herself  is  scarcely  perceptible.  If  the 
white  blood  usually  predominates  in  this  way  in  the  second  gen- 
erafcion,  as  I  am  told  is  the  case,  amalgamation  would  proceed 
very  rapidly,  if  marriages  between  the  races  were  once  legal- 
ized ;  for  we  see  in  England  that  black  men  can  persuade  very 
respectable  white  women  to  marry  them,  when  all  idea  of  the 
illegality  and  degradation  of  such  unions  is  foreign  to  their 
thoughts. 

Among  the  obstacles  which  the  Christian  missionaries  encount 
er  here  when  they  teach  the  virtue  of  chastity,  I  must  not  omit 
to  mention  the  loose  code  of  morality  which  the  Africans  have  in- 
herited from  their  parents.     My  wife  made  the  acquaintance  of 
a  lady  in  Alabama,  who  had  brought  up  with  great  care  a  col 
ored  girl,  who  grew  up  modest  and  well-behaved,  till  at  length 
she  became  the  mother  of  a  mulatto  child.     The  mistress  re 
preached  her  very  severely  for  her  misconduct,  and  the  girl  at 
first  took  tlie  rebuke  much  to  haart ;  but  having  gone  home  one 
day  to  viiit  her  mother,  a  native  African,  she  returned,  saying, 


Chap.  XIX.]        MORAL  CONDITION  OF  NEGROES. 


273 


that  her  parent  had  assured  her  she  had  done  nothing  wronff.  and 
had  no  reason  to  feel  ashamed.  When  we  are  estimating,  there- 
lore,  the  amount  of  progress  made  by  the  American  negroes  since 
they  left  their  native  country,  we  ought  always  to  bear  in  mind 
Irom  how  low  a  condition,  both  morally  and  intellectually  consid- 
ered,  they  have  had  to  mount  up. 


END    OF    THE    FIRST    VOLUME. 


